Take It Away
by enigma77
Summary: Katrina Hart wanted to make her own legacy, not relish off of her family's or dwell on her father's death. Most don't take her seriously, not including her friends and later, one usual punk of a wrestler. CM Punk/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I just did a speech in school where I said wrestling wasn't as fake as everyone thinks. It went on for a good fifteen minutes or more. Anyway, Owen Hart became a big part of that. So the idea came into my head to write a story about how his family was still trying to cope with his death. So I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I own my OC, Katrina, and nothing else. Because KiwiStar is not only an awesome writer, but also a cool person, she's letting me use her OC, Shay, who belongs to only her. Her story, "Unlikely Attractions," is amazing by the way. You should read it if you love John Morrison. :)**

Take It Away

Katrina Hart didn't like to put things into words. When she wrestled, she made an impact with her actions. With the same mischievous personality of her father, Owen, before her, she was easily loved by WWE fans all over. Unlike the majority of the other Divas, Katrina was considered a unique beauty and a good wrestler.

The taping for "Raw" was over. Katrina had just nearly killed one of the Bella twins with a kick to the head. As she now walked down the almost empty hallway, the Calgary native felt someone tapping on her shoulder, signaling for her to stop.

That someone was Gail Kim, one of her close friends in the company. "Hey, Kat. Great match tonight. I think I saw Kelly Kelly hanging backstage with the rest of the SmackDown people and she had her mouth wide open afterward." Gail chuckled. "She is horrific."

Katrina flashed a smile at her. "Well, anyone who starts out in this business as basically a stripper with no talent can only go so far. She can only take so much good wrestling. And Eve is Diva's Champion? I'm sorry 'cause I know she's getting better, but come on! You and I are still on the roster." Katrina threw her hands up in exasperation. "Vince needs to get his brain straightened out."

"I know," sighed Gail after the rant was over. "It's getting ridiculous. We are working harder than any other girl here, but no one cares."

Shaking her head, Katrina said, "Hey, I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow, right? You'll be on the road with us?"

Gail grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her into a hug. "Uh-huh. Where else would I be? Do you seriously think I'd abandon you and leave you with the bimbos?" she asked rhetorically. "Not on your life."

Letting out a little giggle, something Katrina did rarely, she escaped Gail's grasp. "All right, then. If I don't see you by noon, you're head is mine."

"Yeah, right," Gail scoffed. "Like that'll happen." She waved and began walking towards the parking lot. "Buh-bye, Kat!" She was gone before Katrina could say anything.

Katrina, alone once again, proceeded to walk towards her dressing room. Once she got there, she gathered up her stuff, including her black and white ring attire. Unlike her family in the Hart Dynasty, and her uncles from the Hart Foundation, Katrina didn't wear pink and black. For her, even though there were good memories, there was a large amount of bad ones also.

With all of her clothes in her bag, Katrina gazed at the final item yet to be put away: a silver bracelet with a heart pendant. When she was younger, her dad had given it to her. The heart hanging on it had a lightning bolt going through it; Owen Hart's former logo. It was her good luck charm. She didn't actually wear it all that often, but every time she wrestled, she hooked it to her belt loop. When it was given to her all those years ago, she cherished it. When her father died, it was all she really had of him.

She looked at it for a brief moment before dropping it in her purse. Pulling out her iPod, Katrina scrolled through the artists and chose something simple, the Plain White T's, to listen to. Putting earbuds in, she got lost in the music while she picked up her bags. Soon she was out the door, hands full and silently grooving to the music.

While she was listening to "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)" she was oblivious to everything until her head collided with a man's chest, tripping backwards from the impact.

Rubbing her temple, Katrina let out an "Oof," earning a laugh from her collision partner. She felt the man's hand wrap around her wrist, pulling her to her feet.

"You okay?" the familiar voice asked. "I wasn't paying attention. I'm really sorry."

Katrina looked up at Phil Brooks, better known as CM Punk, and had to admit she was surprised by the apology. She hadn't known Phil all that well but she didn't imagine he would ever feel sorry about something, just based on the character he portrayed. "Oh, it's fine. I wasn't looking or anything…" she trailed off.

"No, no. I'm the one who knocked you to the ground, Katrina," he said, sounding a tad embarrassed.

Katrina nodded. "That is kinda true." She noticed that Phil was getting her bags that were sprawled on the floor.

Holding them, Phil asked, "You want me to, uh, bring these to your car or something? I'd be happy to help. It's the least I could do."

"Um…Yeah. Sure. Thanks," said Katrina. She took her purse though, not wanting her bracelet to be away from her. She led Phil to her rental car. While walking, she tried to make small talk. "So why have are all the SmackDown people here?"

He shook his head. "I don't really know. We were all just bored and figured we'd stop by and see how it was all going."

When they got to the Ford Taurus, she popped the trunk and he put her bags in. She closed it just as quickly as she opened it.

Phil looked at her, seemingly taking her in. "I'll see you around, I guess," he said after an awkward silence. "Oh, and once again, sorry for nearly knocking you out. Purely accidental."

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. No broken bones or anything." She shrugged and waved. "I better get going. I'll see you."

With a grin planted on his face, Phil waved back and turned on his heel to begin his walk back to the doors of the arena. Katrina got in the car and unintentionally slammed the door loudly.

While in the dark blue vehicle, she thought about what she believed to be Phil's abnormal behavior. When she wasn't being introspective, the rest of the ride proved to be uneventful.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Katrina didn't hesitate to take her luggage up into her room. The Pittsburgh night air was biting so she ran as fast as she could to get to warmth. With the room's door closed, she threw her bags on the blue, carpeted floor. She sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, which gave an annoying creak.

Since she had nothing better to do, Katrina changed into her nightclothes, a classic Hart Foundation shirt and a pair of bubblegum pink shorts. She pulled her shoulder-length blonde hair into a ponytail and picked up her purse. In her wallet was a section of pictures that she decided to look at. There was one with her and a few of her wrestling friends, Edge, Maria, and Cody Rhodes, when they were sightseeing in England. The next one was taken with her cousins, Nattie and Shay. At the time of the photo, the three girls were hanging out on the beach. The final photo was of Katrina and her dad. They had posed for this when she was thirteen. Sitting in her room, tears now pricked at her eyes, for this was the last picture she ever took with Owen. He died about a week later.

When a knock sounded at the door, Katrina stuffed the pictures in her bag. Wiping her eyes to see if tears were present, she tip-toed to the door. She didn't know why she walked so quietly; no one else was in the room. She turned the knob, opening the door.

It was Edge. "Adam!" Katrina screamed, throwing her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, this and that," he replied. "I was just wondering what your excuse was."

Katrina furrowed her brow. "Excuse me? What…what are you talking about?" She had no idea what she needed an excuse for.

Adam smiled wryly at her. "You know, your excuse for leaving the arena without saying good-bye to me, your best friend in the world. I get drafted to Raw and when I get here, I only get to talk to you for five seconds, and then I get no 'Good night, Adam.' And now you're not even inviting me into your room! This is the thanks I get?" He crossed his arms. "How rude of you!"

Stepping aside to let her friend in, she chuckled. "Sorry, Ad. You know me. I can't stand hanging around the arenas.

Adam sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to him. "Come on, Kitty Kat. Shall we discuss how lucky we are that we didn't get stuck in Europe a couple weeks ago? Stupid volcanoes, huh? Erupting at any time. Ridiculous."

"It was pretty funny, wasn't it?" Katrina said, leaning her head on Adam's shoulder. Then she playfully poked his stomach. "It's a good thing you weren't stuck there. Who knows what kind of food you'd find. You already eat enough."

"Hey," he protested and grabbed her hands. "That was just…not very nice at all. Jericho's fatter than me."

"Ah, yes. Chris is pretty chunky, but you're catching up to him. I don't know how proud you should be."

"All right! All right!" Adam stood from the bed. "If you're just gonna sit here and insult me, I'm gonna cut my visit short. Plus, I wouldn't want to keep you from your beauty sleep."

Katrina snickered. "You need it more than I do."

Narrowing his eyes, Adam said coolly, "Yeah, right, Kat. You need to quit lying to yourself. This is the pure vision of beauty. And you have your dad's weird nose." His cool demeanor left and was replaced with a grin. Adam kissed Katrina's head. "Good night, girlie."

"Night, Addie," she responded as Adam made his way to the door. "Hey, we should go get breakfast together tomorrow."

"Kat, you have the best ideas," said Adam. "But if you ever call me 'Addie' again, you will never be able to eat breakfast." With that, Adam walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Once he was gone, Katrina busted out laughing. She loved Adam and never minded what he considered his anger. He was one of her rocks when it came down to it but she loved mocking him. When her head hit the pillow, all she could think about was how she would never stop calling him "Addie."

Unfortunately, her good thoughts did not make for a good night's sleep. She tossed and turned. When she woke up, the clock read five o'clock.

"Ugh," Katrina groaned. She shoved the covers off her body. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and sat up. Once she was out of her bed, she wandered aimlessly around the room. Slightly stumbling into the bathroom, Katrina went to the sink. Upon turning the facet on, she splashed cold water on her face. Looking up, she glared at her reflection. "What am I gonna do for the next three hours?" she murmured to herself.

Her iPod sat on the nightstand in its pink glory. With her earphones in, she listened to some Blink-182, a favorite of hers. She eventually fell asleep but that didn't last long. She was up again, this time, shaking.

For eleven years, ever since the death of her father, Katrina always had a recurring nightmare. She could never remember what it was about, however, but she did know it was bad. She was always left terrified.

Katrina took her phone out of one of her bags and called the one person who she knew would listen: her cousin, Shay.

On about the fourth ring, a groggy sounding Shay said, "Hello?"

"Um, hey. It's me, Kat." Her hands could not stay still as she held the phone. "I, uh, hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Oh. N-no. Don't worry. You're not barging in on anything," Shay said. "What's up?"

Katrina sighed. "I…I had that dream again."

"Really?" asked an intrigued Shay. "H-have you figured out what happens yet?"

"No," she answered. "Shay, I don't think I ever will. It's just so weird. I don't get it. It makes no sense. I'm scared," she whispered.

"It's fine," Katrina's cousin comforted. "Everything is gonna be fine." There was a pause. "Hey, I gotta go. J-John's calling me. I'll talk to you later though, 'kay?"

"All right. He really misses you while he's on Raw, you know. Well, see ya," Katrina said. Shay said her good-bye and hung up, taking her boyfriend's call. She wished that Shay had come to the "Raw" taping. If she was here, she may have felt a little better.

For the next couple of hours, Katrina had a routine of sitting in her bed, getting up and pacing around, getting a drink of water, then repeating. This went on until she heard a tap at the door.

"It's unlocked," she called and the door flung open.

"Hey, Kat," a beaming Adam said as he walked into the room. He looked her over. "You gotta change. We're not going out while you're in pajamas."

Katrina looked down at herself. "Oh, yeah. I'll be right back." She grabbed random articles of clothing and headed to the bathroom. She hurried while changing, and, when she finished, she ran out the door.

"Nice," Adam said upon taking in her choice of outfit. With her ripped jeans and pair of  
Converse, she wore an Edge "Rise Above" t-shirt.

"That was purely accidental," she stated. "I just pulled it out without looking."

Smirking, Adam said, "Sure you did."

"Oh, quit it and take me to breakfast," she said, tugging on his arm and yanking him out the door. "Where we going?"

"Um…" Adam scratched his head. "There's a McDonald's across the street. I'm sure they have hash browns."

"Like you need more hash browns." Katrina rolled her eyes. "Let's go." She pulled him away from the room and they childishly raced away from the hotel, across the street, and into the fast food powerhouse.

While inside, everyone was looking at them like they were crazy. Adam paid no attention to those gawking. Instead, he said, "Go pick a seat. I'll order the food."

Embarrassed by her previous actions, Katrina picked out a secluded booth in the back. A few minutes went by until she saw Adam making his way toward her. He handed her a milk carton, along with the sausage, eggs, and hash brown that came with it.

The two began eating. "So," Adam started, breaking the silence. "How's everything on Raw been? Everyone nice?"

"Yeah. You know, I didn't know how I'd feel when I actually got here, but I gotta say, it feels pretty awesome." Katrina sighed. "I mean, a lot of them are bad wrestlers, but they're all pretty kind."

Adam took one of her hands in his. "Your dad would be so proud if he were here right now. The rest of us are. He's smiling down at you. I bet he's like us though, waiting for you to become Divas' champ."

Katrina ran her fingers through her hair. "That won't happen any time soon. I wonder what was going through Vince's mind when he didn't let Gail win it."

"Oh, Kat. No one ever knows what that man is thinking. Most of us don't even care anymore. We gave up wondering." He took a bite of his egg. "You see, McMahon is crazy."

The look on Adam's face was thoughtful, solemn. But the fact that his mouth was filled with eggs made Katrina lose it. She started to cackle and he soon joined her, bringing more attention from their fellow eaters.

It wasn't much later when Katrina and Adam made their way back to the hotel. They stopped in front of Katrina's room.

While Adam stood outside in the hall, Katrina stepped into her room. "It was good talking to you," she said. "You've been on SmackDown for so long…"

"Same here," he replied. "Parts of the draft were good, parts were bad. I still can't believe John and Shay were separated. And Chris, too. At least Shay is gonna have Jay there to keep her company."

Adam's words made Katrina dejected. "Way to be a downer, Ad."

"Sorry. It's just facts. I just wonder why it worked out that way. I was hoping all of us could be together. You know, just like old times. We could let John know how Canadians do it."

"Do what exactly?" asked Katrina.

"Uh, make Canadian bacon. Duh. It's not the same in America, idiot."

"Whatever. Drafts are stupid anyway. I don't know why we do them. It just tears everyone apart," Katrina said.

Adam sighed. "You're right. I was hoping I could work with Jay again, but I guess that won't happen. I've got to work with Orton."

"Oh, Randy's not so bad." She watched Adam's expression darker. "Okay you're right. Well, no matter what brand we're on, we are still gonna be the closest group of friends this company has ever seen." Katrina thought for a second. "We're tighter than the Clique, aren't we, Addie?"

"Addie" groaned. "As long as you quit calling me that," he said, through gritted teeth. Then he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I gotta go. I'll see you later, Kat."

She waved good-bye. "See ya, Adam." She closed the door and sat on her bed. She looked around the room and decided it would be a good idea to pack her stuff up. She would have to be on the road again soon. Besides Gail Kim, the Hart Dynasty would be waiting for her, probably to brag about their Unified Tag Team Championships.

**Was that good so far? Or was it bad? I'm not so sure. I'm sort of afraid actually. Just let me know what you think. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and subscriptions and such. They all brought a smile to my face. I worked really hard on this chapter so I hope you like it. :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OC, Katrina. Everything else belongs to their respective owners.**

"Where have you been?" an annoyed Nattie barked. "We've been waiting for you." She, along with Harry and TJ, the other members of the Hart Dynasty, were standing by the rental car.

Sheepishly, Katrina replied, "I was with Adam. We were having breakfast and catching up." She shrugged. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal," Nattie said with a sneer, "is that you were supposed to be here at nine. I believe it is a quarter after."

"Okay, Nat. I'm sorry. I didn't know it was so important. I didn't think."

Nattie nodded. "Of course not, of course not. When do you ever think? God, Kat, you're so thoughtless."

She was going to say more, but she was sidetracked when someone was now standing by Katrina. "Is there a problem?" Phil asked, looking directly at Nattie. "I could hear you all the way by the doors."

TJ spoke for his girlfriend. "There's no problem, Punk." He said Phil's ring name with such disdain. "Why don't you go hang out with your Straight Edge minions?"

Phil raised an eyebrow at him. "Can I ask you a question?" he wondered, paying no attention to what TJ had just said to him. "What's up with your hair?"

TJ was fuming but Nattie and Harry held him back. Katrina was looking at Phil. "What are you doing?"

He pondered this. "Um…defending you, I think."

Another voice was heard. "What's going on?" Adam asked. He glanced at Phil for a moment, then at the Canadians. "What happened?"

"It's nothing," Katrina answered, but Adam didn't believe her.

"Kat, why don't you put your stuff in my car? We can travel together," he suggested.

"Ad, I don't think that's—"

"Just go," TJ growled. "Take Mr. Ink with you."

Adam was still having a stare down with the Harts. Phil tapped Katrina's shoulder. "Come on. I'll take your bags."

"I'm…I'm sorry about that," Katrina said once everyone else was out of earshot. "I don't know what got into her."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. She shouldn't talk like that to anyone."

"She was just angry. I wasn't there on time…" Katrina didn't know what else to say. She didn't really want to be making excuses for her cousin but she had no choice. _We're family_, she thought to herself.

"That doesn't make it any better," Phil said. "You weren't on time so she can talk to you that way? That's not right."

Katrina looked helplessly at him until Adam came running up behind them. "You okay?" he asked. When she nodded, he continued. "Don't worry. I talked to them. You're stuck riding with me." He looked at Phil briefly. "Thanks, man. It's a good thing you were around. Nat can get…angry."

"I can tell," Phil responded.

"No," Adam said. "You have no idea. That," he pointed back towards Nattie, "was nothing."

Phil threw a peculiar look at Katrina, but she didn't say anything. She did not want to admit that her cousin's outburst that day was tame compared to others.

Soon, the trio was standing by the car Adam had rented. Katrina's bags were put in the trunk and Adam whirled around to look at her. "Don't let Nat talk to you like that" was all he said.

As Katrina got into the passenger seat, she heard Adam talking to Phil.

"Are you riding with anyone?" he asked. "'Cause if you're not, you can totally come with us if you want."

"Well," Phil began, unsure. "I was gonna just leave with one of the SmackDown guys, but if you don't mind…"

Laughing, Adam said, "Of course I don't mind. We're all going to the same place anyway so what difference does it make? Get your stuff and put it in the car." Adam's tone was one of ease, like he was talking to an old friend.

When all of their luggage was put safely away and they were about to drive off, there was a tapping at the window. Adam looked out to see Chris Jericho standing there, and he unlocked the doors. "Get in."

"What, were you guys just gonna leave me here?" he said, clearly angry. "Do I mean nothing to you? I thought we were friends."

Adam rolled his eyes. "Yes, Chris. We're friends. I didn't mean to forget you. I just had some stuff on my mind."

"Oh, really?" Chris asked, agitated. "What kind of stuff?"

"What are you, my wife? Look, I'll tell you later."

Chris grumbled and got into the backseat, next to Phil. "What are you doing here?" he snarled.

"Can you just shut up for a few seconds?" asked Adam. "I told him he could come with us. Leave him alone and be nice." Done talking, he drove out of the parking lot.

After being on the road for about five minutes, something occurred to Katrina.

"I didn't get to talk to Gail," she cried. She looked through her purse and found her cell phone.

Gail answered right away. Katrina was going to start apologizing but Gail beat her to it. "Before you say anything, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" inquired Katrina. "What are you sorry for?"

Puzzled, her friend replied, "I didn't get to see you today. I told you I would, but I was talking to The Miz, of all people. Mike's not so bad actually once you speak to him."

"Mike Mizanin? How did you get to talking to him?" All the guys in the car perked their ears at the mention of Miz.

Gail sounded baffled by it, herself. "I don't know really. I was hanging out in the lobby and so was he and we just started talking."

"Hmm. Well, anyway," Katrina said, changing the subject. "I was calling to apologize to you. I'm with Adam right now. He wanted to catch up, I guess." She didn't feel like talking about the whole situation with Nattie.

"Oh. That's fine." Gail was now half shouting. "Hey, I gotta go. I'm with Eve and she's playing her music pretty loud. I'll talk to you later, I promise."

"Okay," Katrina said and ended the call.

"Why does Adam get special treatment?" Chris mumbled from the back. "He gets his name mentioned and I don't?"

Turning around in his seat abruptly, Adam slapped Chris's arm. "You're annoying, that's why no one talks about you. We all wish we weren't friends with you." He twisted back around. "Now, will you please shut up?"

It seemed like an eternity until they arrived in the next city. In Buffalo, New York, where the SmackDown taping was going to be, they all checked into a hotel, getting rooms right next to each other.

"Jay better be here," Katrina muttered once they got there.

"Why wouldn't he be? He's got a rookie on NXT and a championship on SmackDown. I'm sure he's not that far." Adam was overjoyed, knowing he was going to see his childhood friend.

The foursome was walking to their respective rooms when someone called for Phil.

"Hey!" the voice shouted. That voice, they realized, belonged to Serena Deeb, one of the members of the Straight-Edge Society. "Phil, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to my room," he answered. "Why?"

She looked embarrassed. "Well, I was just wondering if…if you wanted to practice for the show. I want it to be perfect."

"Yeah, sure. Just let me get settled and then I'll meet you right here." He nearly ran to his room.

With a tiny glare at Katrina, Serena turned her back on the Canadians.

"She's a little weird, don't you think?" whispered Chris as they went to their own rooms. "I mean, besides the bald head."

Katrina didn't say anything, but Adam sure did. "Yeah. It was strange. She was looking at us oddly. All I can say, though, is she had commitment. Walking around with a bald head." He touched his own hair. "I wouldn't shave my hair for anybody."

"It's the only good thing about you," Chris remarked. "Without your locks, no one would like you."

"That's a lie!" Adam shouted. "They would love me either way."

"No, they wouldn't," Chris said.

"Enough!" Katrina was in no mood to listen to them bicker. "Why don't you both stop insulting each other and go to your rooms?" She sounded like she was their mother but she was actually over ten years younger. However, that didn't seem to matter, for the men went off with their heads down in defeat. Shaking her own head, Katrina walked off after them.

With her bags safely in her room, Katrina knew that she didn't want to stay there. Knowing Adam probably would not want to be bothered then, she didn't go to his room. Instead, she found herself knocking on Chris's.

"Who is it?" he called. His voice didn't show anger or agitation.

"It's Kat," she answered. "Can I come in?"

The next thing she heard was the unlocking of the door. "Hey, Kat," he said when there was no door between them. "How have you been?"

"Fine, I guess. How do you feel about being back on TV Monday nights?"

He laughed. "Are you interviewing me or something? It's been good," he said with a smile. "It's fun seeing all the guys that I used to work with." Suddenly, his mood changed. "Hey, I'm sorry for being so rude in the car. My mindset was not good."

"Don't apologize to me. You made Adam mad, not me. Go say you're sorry to him," Katrina suggested.

"Yeah, I will when I see him. There was something I was going to ask you," he said and pondered about it. "Oh, yeah. What was going on with Nattie this morning?"

Katrina froze. "Why? Did you talk to her?"

"No. I saw her and she looked pretty angry. I know she gets mad a lot, but she was furious today."

Turning pale, Katrina said, "I don't know. She was just…I don't know. I gotta go," she said and quickly turned away. "Bye!" She had to get away. She now had a feeling that Nattie was going to tell everyone about the argument and somehow pin it all on her. That was the last thing she needed.

"Katrina?" a worried voice asked. It was Phil again. "What's wrong?"

_Great_, thought Katrina. _Here he comes again._ "Nothing," she said, answering the question. "I'm good."

"Are you sure?" he asked, but Katrina didn't answer because Serena was there.

"Phil, come on. We got to rehearse," she said. Phil showed no signs of moving so she grabbed his arm and tugged. "Come on."

After staring at Katrina for a few more seconds, he finally turned away, giving in to Serena.

Katrina sighed in relief. She was in no mood to talk to anybody, not even her closest friends. She walked back toward her own room. Loneliness was welcomed at that moment.

Secluded in her room, Katrina thought over the episode with her cousin. Nat had a habit of lashing out on people but this was insane. She was just a little late. It wasn't that big of a deal.

After a while, Katrina came out of her room. Adam had wanted her to watch the NXT taping with him because Jay would be there. Any time the opportunity came for him to see his former tag team partner, Adam jumped at it. They were still best friends after all.

Waiting for her in the lobby was Jay, Adam, and Chris. "Hey," they all greeted simultaneously. They were all clad casually except for Chris, who was all dressed up in a suit and tie.

"What? I like looking snazzy," he defended.

With that one word, Katrina's depressed mood was gone. She was unable to bottle up the giggles that escaped her mouth. Joining the bandwagon, Jay and Adam proceeded to cackle with her. Eventually, Chris figured it would be better to laugh at himself than complain so he chuckled, too.

"Okay, okay," Jay said once he caught his breath. "We better get to the arena. Heath and Wade are probably waiting for us."

"Yeah," said Chris. "Those rookies are pretty impatient."

The group was off to the New York venue and the first people they saw when they got there were Chris and Jay's rookies. Wade Barrett was taller, Katrina thought, than she could ever imagine while Heath Slater was the same charismatic character that he was on  
T.V.

There were introductions and compliments and Katrina found the men's words very flattering toward her family.

"Kat," Heath was saying, calling her by her nickname as if it was no big deal. "Kat, you don't even know how much I admired your dad when I was growing up. He was the epitome of what a great wrestler was, you know."

"The whole Hart Foundation was inspiring for kids," Wade added. "They showed what a tag team was all about."

Katrina bobbed her head up and down. "Well, thank you. They inspired me as well."

Other rookies were joining them now, along with their pros. "You were trained in the Dungeon, right?" asked one of them, Justin Gabriel, Katrina realized. "What was it like? Was it brutal?"

"Hey!" Chris was about to explode. "I trained in the Dungeon. Why don't you guys ask me about it?"

"'Cause you're a guy," Wade answered in his thick British accent. "Katrina's one of the two girls who trained there. You're nothing special."

Everyone got a chuckle out of that and Katrina answered Justin's question. "It could be sometimes. My grandfather was tough. You couldn't quit, no matter what. If you didn't come one day, you were in trouble. But I wasn't really trained by him 'cause I was really young." She shrugged. "It didn't really apply to me."

The men were hanging on every word she said. It felt good for her that people were actually listening to her and interested in what she was saying. She felt somewhat wanted.

They all went on talking and sharing their wrestling experiences with each other, just enjoying everyone's company. Only one pro was not there: CM Punk. His rookie, Darren Young, was there, though he, along with everybody else, knew he was getting eliminated that night.

Katrina didn't let his absence deter her good mood. Everyone was laughing when a guy came in to tell them that the show was going to start in a few minutes.

They all left except for Adam and Katrina. "Shall we turn the television on and watch?" the former questioned, holding his arm out to her.

Looping her arm through his, Katrina said, "Why, yes, we shall." They both sat down on the sole couch in the room.

They watched in silence, except when Chris and Jay came on for they cheered then. Occasionally, they would boo at Michael Cole. Therefore, they got extremely giddy when Daniel Bryan beat him up. All in all, they thought it was a pretty good show.

When Jay made his way back into the room where his two friends were, he screamed. "Let's celebrate! Heath is still in the running to become WWE's newest star."

"You sound like Tyra Banks on 'America's Next Top Model.' You know where she says, 'Congratulations. You are still in the running of becoming America's next top model.'"

"Kat, who asked you?" Jay said, outraged. "And why are you watching that? You hate models. And you really hate Tyra Banks," he accused. "So what's your reasoning? Stick figures are your enemy."

"I only watch it because of Miss Jay," she defended herself. "He's such a woman."

Jay shuddered. "I can't stand him. Anyway, it's celebration time!" He walked out the door with everyone following behind him.

The next thing they all knew, they were sitting inside of a Wendy's fast food joint.

"Uh, Jay?" said Heath, a little uncertain. "This is your idea of a celebration?"

Jay just looked at him. "Well, I can't be out drinking all night or I'm going to start looking like these two," he said, pointing to Chris and Adam, who gaped at him.

"I'm not fat!" they screamed together. "It's just him!" They each shot a finger at the other.

"No, it's both of you," Katrina pointed out. "But that's okay, 'cause we love you either way." Right then, standing at the door, she saw Serena staring at her with an evil glint in her eyes. Katrina shook her head in amazement and tried not to let that ruin her mood. She continued to laugh and joke with her three favorite men.

* * *

**Did you like it? Was this chapter good? Leave a review and tell me what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: He's bald! It can't be! But it is. I started this story, this chapter, when CM Punk had hair, even if it was greasy. I didn't plan on him being hairless. So you got to tell me: Do I continue with what happened at Over the Limit or do we completely forget about it? It is a fictional world, after all. I personally can't picture him bald but… Anyway, thanks for the reviews and everything. So read, review, enjoy. :)

**Disclaimer: My OC, Katrina, belongs to me. Anything that is recognizable, however, does not.**

Katrina went to the SmackDown show, even though she didn't really want to. She was bored the majority of the time. She wasn't the closest with the people on the show besides Jay. Everyone else had either been drafted to Raw or had, unfortunately, been released. Maria, Mickie James, Shelton Benjamin… They were all gone and they were actually friends of hers.

So when Barbie Blank, better known as Kelly Kelly, was one of the first people to greet her, Katrina was very taken aback.

"Hey, Katrina," Barbie said, gathering the third generation Diva in a hug. "I've actually missed working with you."

"Aw. Thanks. I feel the same way." Of course, Katrina knew it was wrong to lie. She didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. Plus, she was raised to be polite.

"Oh, I'm sure you're wondering where Jay and the rest are!" Barbie went on, oblivious to the falsehood. "Come on; I'll take you there." She grabbed Katrina's hand and pulled her down a hallway. "Here we are," she said with a smile when they stopped at a locker room.

Inside were Jay, Adam, Chris, Rey Mysterio, and Matt Hardy, along with a few others from the roster. They all turned to look at her.

Rey got up first and walked over to her, giving her a hug. "Kat, long time, no see." He pulled away to look at her. "Seriously, how long has it been?"

Katrina thought about it for a moment. "Hmm… I don't know. A few months?" she guessed.

"How have we gotten along without each other for so long?" Rey questioned, then laughed. "I've missed you."

"Missed you, too, Rey." She watched as Matt came over. "Mattie!" She clutched him close. "I just so you at NXT. Why am I so happy to see you?"

"Oh, I don't know," he answered. "'Cause I'm just so lovable?"

Adam scoffed in the corner, getting up. "I'm more lovable." He didn't get a reaction he was expecting. Chris, who was next to him, hit his unsuspecting friend. Though he should have suspected it.

"What are you talking about? I'm more lovable," Chris said. "I beat you all."

Barbie was still there, but no one noticed her until she spoke. "None of you are the most lovable." She grinned at the only other girl in the room. "Katrina is."

"I like your thinking," Katrina replied. "Good answer, good answer." She glared at Chris. "And quit hitting Adam. What did he do to you?"

"Ugh! Everything. You just don't see it. He's only nice when you're around."

"That's not true," Jay defended. "He's nice to me."

"And how often have you been alone with him in the last ten years?" Chris shot back. "You guys are always with Kat."

"Well…"

"I rest my case. Adam has you all fooled." Chris pointed at the man in question. "He's a cruel man."

Adam's only response was to stick out his tongue.

"God," Katrina sighed. "You guys are such immature babies." She shook her head and looked at Jay. "Explain to me why we are friends with them?"

Jay didn't know so he didn't give an answer. He just shrugged and walked far away from Chris and Adam. "They're strange people."

"Yes," Katrina agreed. "But they are our strange people, Jay. Our strange people. So what's going on tonight? Are there going to be any good matches?"

Matt thought about if for a few seconds. "Um, Jay's in a match, right?"

"First match of the night. You know, I fight Kofi for the Intercontinental belt," he said proudly. "Except I lose."

Katrina rubbed his back lightly. "Aw. Sorry, Jay."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Wait until you see what happens to Kofi after the match." He chuckled. "It's not supposed to be funny, but I think it will be."

"Why? What happens?" Katrina was always curious about the endings to matches. She had been like that since she was little.

Jay gave her a reproachful look and said, "You don't need to know yet. Gosh, why can't you just watch the match? It's gonna be on in…" He looked at the clock on the wall. "Fifteen minutes."

Rolling her eyes, Katrina just said, "I don't care. I want to know now."

Jay sighed, trying to prevent himself from yelling at his friend. "Kat," he said slowly. "Don't act like a spoiled brat. You will find out what happens soon enough."

A defiant look gleamed in Katrina's eyes. "If you won't tell me, I'm just gonna get Kofi to."

"Kat," Adam hissed. "You know there is an unspoken rule about asking the outcome of someone's match. You, of all people, have to know this."

Katrina rolled her eyes once more. "Fine. I won't ask him." It was obvious that she knew about the rule. She had been trying to break it for years. Unfortunately for her, the Hart family was very traditional when it came to things like that so she was unable to get anything out of them.

"Good," Adam sighed. "You know what would happen if you did ask, right?"

"Yes," she grumbled. That was another obvious topic. If Katrina had been told once, she had heard it a million times. It brought her back to a memory from long ago.

"_Now, Kitty Kat," Owen Hart was saying to his seven-year-old daughter. "How many times do I have to tell you not to ask me who's going to win?"_

"_But, Daddy—" Katrina said but was interrupted._

"_Uh-uh. No buts. Do you remember what I told you happens if you know who the winner is?" At this, she shook her head so Owen continued. "The person who is supposed to win never will win ever again. Now, would you want that to happen to me or my opponent tonight?"_

"_I don't care if your opponent ever wins or loses again," she replied. "I just want you to win."_

_Owen grinned at his little girl. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way, Kat."_

"Katrina," Matt said, bringing her back into reality. "You there?"

"Um…yeah. I'm here. I was just spacing out for a minute there. Sorry." A sheepish smile spread on her face.

"What are you sorry for? We all do that," Matt said. "Nothin' new."

Jay was headed to the door but stopped and turned around. "Kat, I can't wait until you see what happens," he said quickly and ran out.

"Match time!" Rey shouted, plopping in front of the television.

They, including Barbie, sat down next to Rey and stared at the screen. Since everyone was looking very interested, Katrina guessed that she wasn't the only one clueless to the outcome.

They waited for Jay to come out and all shouted when they heard, "Making his way down the aisle, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada…Christian!"

A "Woo!" was heard in the locker room, coming from Katrina, Adam, and Chris. Not just friends, but fellow Canadians need to be cheered for.

Every time that Kofi was on the offense instead of Jay, Katrina winced. She hated seeing any of her friends get hurt, even if she knew nothing terrible was going to happen. She knew that there was always that possibility though…

She pushed the thought out of her mind. She wanted to watch Jay's match, not bring back unwanted memories. _Go away_, she said in her mind. _You're not wanted here_.

Instead of thinking too much, she became too busy berating Jay. "No, do not get up on that turnbuckle! It's just gonna cause problems. See? I told you not to do that. Kofi caught you! God, you're an idiot, Jay."

While she was doing this, everyone else in the room was staring at her. "You really get into this, don't you?" Barbie asked.

"I should be expecting this by now," Adam said. "But it's still hilarious. And weird."

Katrina ignored Adam and answered Barbie. "I'm very passionate about this business. It's in my blood, you know."

They all put their attention back to the match and Katrina proceeded to scream at Jay. When Jay lost the match, just like he said he would, Katrina was beside herself.

"Oh, see? Why don't you listen to me? If you had listened, you would have won, Jay."

"Um, Kat," Chris said, tapping her on her shoulder. "Jay, he…he can't hear you. He's in the ring and you're not. You're in this room. You are way too far away. So just quit yelling at him."

"Can it, tubby," Katrina shot back.

"Hey! Why does everyone keep calling me fat?"

Adam chuckled and couldn't resist saying, "'Cause you are."

Chris's eyes were filled with rage as he swung at Adam.

"Guys, guys!" Katrina screamed, putting herself in between the two. "Cut it out!" When they stopped fighting, she showed her frustration. "You guys are friends, right? People who go see Paul McCartney in concert stay together. And you did that! Now just stop and make up."

The two Canadians looked at each other. "Fine," they each mumbled. "Sorry."

"There. Now, let's watch to see what Jay was talking about. I want to know what the aftermath of the match is. Shut up."

Katrina's stare at the television was more intent than before. She watched as Kofi was awarded the I.C. belt, then when Drew McIntyre came out, being booed the whole time. She couldn't believe her ears or eyes when Drew gave Teddy Long the note from Mr. McMahon and was even more shocked when that note claimed that Drew was still the champion.

"Ridiculous!" she exclaimed. "Kofi was the winner!"

"Easy, Kat," the returning Jay said. "It's not like it wasn't planned."

"That doesn't make the decision any better."

"Chill," Matt said. "Kofi probably isn't taking it as badly as you are."

Katrina sniffed. "Yeah, well, I take these things seriously."

"Okay," he said. "Well, I got to go. Hey, Rey, don't you have a match with Punk tonight?"

"Yeah, why?" the veteran luchador said.

He shrugged. "Just wonderin' I kinda want to make fun of Serena's bald head."

"That's rude," Rey chided. "She can't help it if management wanted to make her join the SES."

"Yeah, I know," Matt said. "I'm cool with her. I just like mocking it. Bald chicks are weird."

"Matt!" the whole group said.

"What? They are!"

Barbie was glowering at him. "Matt, just go."

With a huff, he walked out the door, probably going to bother someone else. Or tweet about the show.

Katrina looked at Barbie, figuring she might as well make nice with her since she wasn't on the same roster as her. "So how's SmackDown?"

"Great!" she responded, being her bubbly self. "Working with the Divas here is great. They are all so sweet and nice and friendly and easy to get along with."

That's not what Katrina was worried about. "Are they any good in the ring?"

Barbie apparently hadn't heard her. She was lost in her own world. "What?"

"You know. Wrestling skills. Are they terrible?" _Like you_, she added mentally.

"Oh, yeah. Like, Beth has some of the best skills in the ring. And Michelle McCool can be really mean but she's pretty good."

"Any of them better than me?" Katrina asked, honestly curious to see what Barbie's answer would be.

She thought over her response carefully. Katrina thought she was trying to find a way to let her down easily after telling her that she is horrifying compared to them. What was actually going through Barbie's mind was if she said what she really thought, she feared that Katrina would find her a bit annoying because she thought no one matched up against her. "Well, they all have different styles than you," she said, evading the actual question.

Katrina wasn't going to let her get away with that, however. "Come on, Barb. They better or not?"

Barbie grinned at her. "No one in the WWE is better than you, Kat."

Smiling in spite of herself, Katrina murmured a thanks and then thought of something else. _Wait a second_, her mind said. _She's probably just trying to soften you up. Make you think she's your friend! _She hastily shook off the thoughts because she really did think Barbie was sincere.

With Barbie and the rest of her friends, Katrina watched the rest of the show. She cringed when she saw Serena, only because of the sneer that the "Anti-Diva" was giving the camera. Katrina believed it was directed at her.

As always, she got into the matches when she wasn't thinking bad thoughts. Her emotions showed through with each battle as she cheered for friends and co-workers and booed others.

"What do you want to do now?" asked Adam who was lounging on the floor with his head oddly in Katrina's lap. It wasn't an uncommon position for the two but the moment it happened, Barbie made a scene.

"I don't know," Jay answered him. "I feel tired."

"Drowsy is a better word," Katrina told him, not in the least distracted by Barbie's gawking.

"Ooh, someone thinks they're all great with their words," Jay mocked.

Katrina reached over and slapped his knee. "You're such an idiot. Drowsy isn't even an intelligent word. It just sounds better." She looked at Chris. "Hey, Y," she began, calling him the shorter version of Y2J. "You use big words for your promos. What's a more sophisticated version of tired?"

"Kat, I don't know. They write those things for me." He tapped his chin a few times. "Somnolent means tired, I guess."

"See, Jay? Chris is the smart one, not me. And you're somnolent, not tired." She grinned. "Remember that."

Upset because Katrina was forcing words on him, Jay mimicked her words and then said, "Oh, look. I'm Katrina. I like saying smart words to sound smart, too. But guess what? I'm not!"

"Um…Yeah, I know that, stupid. I already said I'm not the smart one. Jeez, you never listen."

Barbie was watching the exchange with a bemused, and confused, expression on her face. "What just happened?"

Adam, who was the only person besides Barbie not involved in whatever argument that just happened, waved it off. "This happens all the time. Don't worry about it."

She nodded in understanding but Jay was taking it all way too seriously. "Don't worry about it? Adam, everything we do needs to be worried about."

"No, Jay," Adam said, for some reason wanting to get on his best friend's nerves. "Everything _you_ do needs to be worried about."

Jay's eyes narrowed in slits but he chose not to say anything. He knew how Adam could be. He saw how he was with Chris.

Barbie shook her head. "You guys are crazy."

Chris pointed at her for no actual reason other than because he felt like it. "You got that right, toots. And even though you barely know how we usually are, you love us already!"

Giggling, Barbie couldn't help but admit, "Yeah, you're sort of right, Chris."

But Katrina was still a little unsure of it all. Sure, Barbie was nice, but it would take a while to know just how trustworthy she really was.

I've been using too many references to the Beatles lately. Oh, well. Okay, this was kind of just a filler chapter. It didn't really need to be here but it is. So please, please, please! You have to tell me: To be bald, or not to be bald, that is the question. Now answer it by reviewing this story and tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay, I'm sorry that it takes me forever to update. School let out not too long ago and all I've been doing is staring at a British guy and listening to Tom Petty. Don't ask. Anyway, I've thought long and hard about this, have discussed it with some of my friends, and looked over the reviews, and have come to the conclusion that Punk is going to keep his hair. Sorry if it disappoints any of you, but this is a fictional world and I am afraid of what he will look like bald. The hair stays. Oh, and thank you to all who reviewed. :)

Disclaimer: Katrina Hart belongs to me. Shay Hart belongs to KiwiStar. And everything else is…somebody else's.

Strange things were happening in a few short weeks. To everyone's surprise, of Katrina's little clique, the only one not on "Raw" was Jay. The Supplemental Draft had showed that her cousin, Shay, was to be on the roster with everyone.

Not that that meant something bad was going to happen. It just meant that Katrina probably would not be with Adam and Chris as much, seeing that they were usually closer with Shay. Katrina never knew if it was because Shay was older and knew her longer or if it was for some other reason entirely. All she was sure of was that it irked her.

"Are we going to keep having these weird celebrity guest hosts?" Adam piped up randomly. "I mean, we don't really need them, do we? We have a general manager now. We don't need people, who just want to promote things, by the way, to pretend that they know what they're talking about."

"You're right," Katrina responded. "We have Bret. Do we have to have that guy from 'Royal Pains?' Just 'cause Show's guest starring in his show doesn't mean he has to come here."

"They couldn't care less about what we do," Chris said. "And when they are actors, no one goes to see the movies that they want them to. It's all kind of pointless. Did anybody watch that thing with Kutcher in it? No," he answered his own question.

"What was the name of that?"

"Kat, that is not the point. The fact of the matter is that we do not need these idiots on our show. And, oh, my god, I have a match tonight!" Next to Chris's normal outrage was his surprise.

Adam chuckled. "How do you not know until a couple hours before that you have a match? I've known that I have one for days."

"Dude, just shut up. You know how I am with these things." It looked as if Chris's lip quivered slightly, indicating just how upset he was.

Katrina patted his back. "Chris, it's not the end of the world. So you have a match tonight. What's the big deal? Worst-case scenario, you lose. Big deal. That happens to everybody."

"I don't care about that, Katrina," Chris said through gritted teeth. "It does get worse though. I'm losing to Evan Bourne." His face was buried in his hands.

"What's so bad about Evan? I think he's nice enough," Katrina admitted.

Groaning, Adam answered. "Did you not see what he did to me last week? You know, Kat, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you enjoy watching me get hurt."

With a loud sigh, Katrina asked herself in frustration, "Why do I even talk to you guys?"

"Is it because of our ruggedly good looks?" Chris wondered, back to his normal self.

Adam scoffed at him. "Chris, there is nothing at all rugged about your looks, okay? You frost and highlight your hair."

"You would, too, if you had luscious hair like mine," said Chris.

"I thought the only reason people liked me was because of my hair," Adam shot back. "Whatever. Anyway, Miss Katrina, the reason you talk to us is…" Before he would continue, Adam thought it was appropriate to imitate a drum roll. "…Because we are, without a doubt, your best friends, no matter what happens. And we love you, Kitty Kat. Isn't that right, fatty?" he said, nudging Chris.

Before another fight could break out, Katrina tried to intervene. "Okay, if you guys love me, you will not fight for the rest of the night. Got it?" The two men nodded. "Good. Adam, don't you know when to quit? Stop calling him fat. It's not like you're so much thinner." With that, Katrina left the locker room, leaving her friends shell shocked.

As she turned around the corner, Katrina almost ran into a rookie from the first season of "NXT," Justin Gabriel.

"Hey," he said in his usual friendly manner. "You look a little distracted. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, shaking her head. "Just Chris and Adam are being idiots but what's new? How 'bout you? I heard all the rookies are gonna be going crazy."

"Yeah, that's what they're telling us," the South African wrestler said. "I'm not sure of everything but it sounds like we're gonna take our anger out on your uncle."

"Bret?" Katrina questioned, then mentally slapped herself. _Of course it's Bret_, she thought. _What other uncle do you have that works here right now?_ "Do you have any idea what you're going to do with him? Is it anything that I should know about?" Though she wasn't always close with her uncle, she didn't want to see anything bad happen to him.

Justin thought over it for a few seconds. "Um, no. Not that I can think of."

"Okay," sighed Katrina, relieved. "Hey, you wanna go to catering with me? The last thing I need is for Adam and Chris to be hogging all the food."

"Sure. Why not?" He walked beside Katrina until they got to the room of food where she veered off. "Where are you going?" he asked.

She turned back to look at him. "I'm picking a seat. What else does it look like I'm doing?" Katrina, not waiting on a response, chose a table and sat on the chair behind it. "Well, are you going to sit or not? I wanted to officially claim this one before I got my stuff."

"Oh, I underst—"

Justin was cut off because Katrina saw a very unpleasant sight. "Crap," she muttered under her breath. "I wanted to be away from them."

Just prancing into the room was Adam and Chris. The second they spotted their favorite person to torture, they made a beeline for her. "Kat!" they shouted at the same time.

"Ugh. What do you want now?" she questioned in disgust.

Adam sat in the chair across from her. "Oh, come on. You can't still be annoyed with us from earlier. That's just how we always are. You know that."

"It's ridiculous," Katrina sneered.

"It's us," Chris pointed out. "And whether you like it or not, you love us."

"I don't feel like having this conversation again," she said.

Silently, Justin sat through the ordeal, staring at them all. "So are you guys back to being best buds again? Everything's cool?"

Adam playfully slapped the younger man on his back. "Man, we're always cool with each other. If you play your cards right, you can be cool with us, too."

"Yep, anything is possible," Chris added. "Can we go get some food now? I'm starving." He patted his bulging belly."

"Are you sure you didn't just eat?" asked Adam.

"Yep. I guarantee you I didn't."

Katrina raised an eyebrow in skepticism at him. "Really? Then how come you I saw you with jelly donuts earlier? If I remember correctly, you had a whole box of them."

Immediately, Chris began to sweat. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kat."

"Until I hear the truth, you can only refer to me as Miss Katrina Hart," she stated.

"Kat, I—"

"Ah, ah, ah," she butted in. "Miss Katrina Hart."

Chris let out a sigh. "Miss Katrina Hart, I'll have you know that you are the one who told me that they didn't have that many calories." 

"God, you are so dumb. They are jelly donuts. Of course they have a ton of calories. What's wrong with you?" Katrina wondered aloud.

"I'm perfectly normal," retorted Chris. "You're the one with the problems."

Meanwhile, Adam had left to go get food and Justin sat and had an evident look of discomfort on his face. "Um, I think I'm just gonna go. You look like you're in the middle of something." He stood up awkwardly.

"No, Justin. Stay. I'll get them to shut up, I promise," Katrina complained.

He shook his head. "No, I have to go meet up with the rest of the Nexus guys. You know, discussing tonight's plans and stuff."

Nodding slowly, Katrina said, "Yeah, I know. Well, I'll see you later, I guess."

With a wave good-bye, Justin left, not saying any more. Katrina felt her feelings deflate. Justin and she were not the best of friends—they barely knew each other—but she didn't want her closest friends to prevent her from making others.

Adam had just returned, carrying a vast quantity of food. "Where'd Justin go?" he questioned, his mouth full. "Did he just get up and leave?"

"Yes," snapped Katrina. "All because of Chris."

"It's always Chris's fault, right?" Adam tried to get everything straight.

"Only when it's not yours," she clarified. "Justin's so nice, too. Then Chris had to be himself and just cause all sorts of problems."

"Kat, I cause no problems at all," Chris objected. "You start these things."

"You're the common denominator!" she shouted at him. "You're the one always getting into fights with Adam, you start fights with me, you complain when you have to lose to someone. It's you, not me."

"Well," Chris said quietly. "If you feel that way about me, then why do you still hang out with me?"

Katrina sighed in frustration, something she felt she was doing a lot of lately. Even if Chris was an annoying jerk most of the time, she didn't want to hurt his feelings. "Chris, you know that I love you, no matter what. Friends 'til the end, right?" In a childish move, she held out her pinkie finger to him. 

It was a gesture that Chris hesitantly accepted. When their pinkies were joined, he said, "Yep, best friends. But sometimes, Adam is the one who instigates."

"Hey!" Adam called out. "I don't do anything at all. I'm just a victim of verbal abuse. Right, Kat?" When Katrina didn't agree with him, he got a little worried. "Kat?"

"What? Sometimes, you do provoke him. I mean, you're fine when you're with me, but other times…"

"Enough!" Adam interrupted. "I don't want to hear anymore of this…this…blasphemy!"

"Good word," she complimented softly. "And Addie, I love you, too. You know that. We've always been friends, even when I was little. Remember when I would get into all those shenanigans backstage?"

Adam laughed, thinking back to all the strange things Katrina did as a kid. "Yeah, like that time you sprayed whipped cream in Jay's tights because he wouldn't buy you a Coke the day before."

"Possibly the best day ever," Katrina said, giggling herself.

"Where was I during all this?" Chris asked, feeling left out.

"Probably being an idiot in WCW," Adam answered. "You know, doing whatever Bischoff would tell you to."

"Oh, so this was when I was wrestling with Eddie Guerrero, and you were wrestling with Gangrel." Chris nodded as if he understood it all.

"No, nimrod. I was wrestling our lovely Katrina's father," Adam corrected. "While working briefly with Gangrel."

"Uh-uh." Chris shook his head. "You and Jay had to have been with him for over a year. And then Matt and Jeff were with him, too. You guys were all the Brood, whether you want to admit or not. You can't live that down." He smirked, knowing he had Adam in a corner.

With his hands on his hips, Adam stared Chris down. "At least I wasn't the one who got a tooth knocked out, all thanks to Shawn Michaels."

"No," Chris said slowly. "That was me. But you were the one who, without even wrestling, tore your Achilles tendon. You were just making fun of Jeff Hardy! How does that cause any physical strain at all?"

For a while, Katrina had been watching them bicker until she finally decided to put an end to it. "Guys, you're both being ridiculous. We all have some glitches in our careers. Just get over it."

"All right," they grumbled.

"Now, Chris, you better go get ready for your match," Katrina said. "You don't want to leave Bourne waiting."

Over the next couple hours, most of the "Raw" locker room sat around, watching the matches they weren't involved in. Katrina hadn't wrestled in a few weeks due to a very minor wrist injury and she felt strange not being in the ring. But, even though she was in a massive fight with her cousin, Natalie, she did still enjoy watching the Harts win.

"Well," Adam said, getting up. "My match is up next."

"Right," fellow wrestler, and Shay's boyfriend, John Hennigan said. "And we all have to come out and watch for the rookies." His voice took on a mocking tone.

"So you think it's strange, too?" Chris asked.

John nodded. "I mean, we all know what's gonna happen and everything, but seriously. I don't think we need to be out there."

"Well," Shay started to say. "You just have to do what the boss t-tells you to, right?"

"I still don't get what McMahon's doing," Katrina complained.

Adam ruffled her hair. "Just don't worry about it. He can be just a crazy old man sometimes."

"Don't call your boss crazy," chastised Kat. But then, Adam gave her a look that said she knew that Vince was crazy so she retracted. "Well, don't call him old then. You're older than most of the guys working here." She knew that Adam hated anyone bringing up his age.

"Watch what you say, Kat. I might decide that I don't wanna be friends with you."

"You wouldn't." She raised an eyebrow at him.

In return, an eyebrow of Adam's was raised right back at her. "I think you and I both know that I would."

Katrina gasped and pointed at him. "I'm keeping my eyes on you, Copeland."

With his signature smirk in place, Adam said cockily, "I'm sure you are, but isn't everyone?" After dodging a pinch to his arm by Katrina, he laughed. "Okay, I really need to go now. The guys are going out there now." He hugged both Kat and Shay briefly. "Wish me luck."

"We already know what's going to happen," Shay told him, but he was already out the door.

The two girls sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the monitor. "So," Katrina said, dragging the word out. "How's your time on 'Raw' been?"

"F-fine," she stammered. "John's here. So are Adam, Chris, and you, of course. The only th-thing is Nattie."

Leaning forward, Katrina put an arm around her cousin. "She's not getting any better then, eh? Don't sweat it. It's the same thing on this end. You do one little thing wrong and then she can't stand you." She shook her head. "Crazy."

"Yeah. Just gotta put up with it, I guess." Shay's eyes were cast downward.

"Everything's going to work out fine," said Katrina with a reassuring hug. "Look, Adam's on TV now."

They proceeded to watch the show. It was going good. Adam was on fire, like usual. All that Kat and Shay were doing was waiting for the NXT guys.

It didn't take long for them to arrive. But they weren't by the ring. Instead, they were backstage, brutally attacking Bret.

Katrina stared, openmouthed, at the television, as did Shay. The moment Bret was shoved into the limo and it was crashed into a truck, Kat lost it. She knew a little something about malfunctions in this business. If it wasn't her father, it had to be her uncle. "No!" she shouted.

To Kat's surprise, Shay sat calmly. "This was what was going to happen. It was e-expected."

"But that's your dad."

Shay stared at her. "And this is business."

When the beat down was over, Adam, Chris, and John came backstage. John walked over to Shay and gave her a kiss on her cheek while the two Canadian men sat down next to Katrina.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked upon looking at Kat's face.

"Did you see what happened to my uncle?" she asked, annoyed.

Adam and Chris exchanged looks. The latter said, "Kat, didn't you know that was going to happen?"

"Didn't know it was gonna be that bad," she mumbled. "I'm gonna go. I need a break." She got up, without a good-bye, and left the room.

As she practically ran down the hall, Katrina saw a familiar face. It was Phil. "What are you doing here?" she wondered, coming to a stop.

"Well, I was just visiting the guys," he replied. "Hey, I was wondering…"

"Hold that thought, Phil," Katrina interrupted, for she saw Justin Gabriel. "I have to talk to someone for a second." She walked swiftly over to him, immediately calling him out. "You sure took a lot of anger out on Bret, huh?"

Justin looked around. "Um, yeah. I guess we did."

"You knew that was going to happen, too, didn't you? And you didn't tell me, even when I asked."

"There a problem?" the thick English accent of Stu Bennett, better known as Stu Barrett, boomed.

"Yeah," Katrina answered in a snippy tone. "I don't take too kindly of a group of snobs beating on my uncle."

"And what exactly are you going to do about it? You called us snobs? You're just one of those girls who think they can wrestle but really can't. Just 'cause you come from a wrestling dynasty doesn't make you any good at all." All of this was said with a look of disgust on Stu'sStu face.

Katrina just stared at him. For once, she didn't really have a comeback. As far as anyone in the company was concerned, Stu was right. Everyone thought she was there because of her late father. She felt tears well up in her eyes. She wanted to run away, but she couldn't force herself to move.

"Don't talk to her that way," a man's voice said. Once again, it was none other than Phil.

"What are you going to do about it?" Stu asked.

Phil chuckled. "This." And in the next instant, his fist connected with Stu's jaw, making the larger man stumble backward.

Okay. Once more, I am so sorry for the wait. I don't know when I'm going to be able to update again because I've got surgery tomorrow, but I will try to do so as quickly as possible. So with that being said, show me some love and support and leave me a review. :)


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and everything. It means a lot. I'm just glad that I was able to update the story as soon as I am. It amazes me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. :)

**Disclaimer: Katrina Hart is the only thing in this story that belongs to me.**

"What the hell is going on here?" Adam shouted, making his way toward Katrina. He pushed passed both her and Phil, who was practically growling at Stu.

Chris, now beside Adam, looked around. When no one said anything, he, too, shouted. "What? Is nobody going to explain?"

"Why don't you keep your little friend on a leash?" Stu said, rubbing where he had just been punched. "Tell her to mind her own business."

Adam looked at Katrina, then back at the former NXT competitors. "So you're picking on a girl? Does that make you feel like more of a man?"

Stu wasn't going to back down. Looking Adam dead in the eye, he said, "Well, I'm pretty sure I'm more of a man than you could ever be."

With his eyes bugged out like they only ever did when he was on character, Adam looked as if he was on the verge of killing the British man who stood in front of him. "You better watch what you say."

It was Chris's turn to speak. "I know there's a thing about picking on someone your own size, but I'm gonna tell you right now. I don't care if I was your 'mentor' or whatever you want to call it. I don't care that you're a lot taller than me. All I know is that you better be careful, or I'm gonna kick your—" 

He was interrupted by the screams of their fellow wrestlers. In a united front behind Katrina, Phil, Adam, and Chris were most of the "Raw" locker room and even some other "SmackDown" Superstars.

"What's going on here?" the usually happy-go-lucky Matt Hardy asked in a rough voice. He was staring at his former rookie, Justin.

Adam glanced for the briefest moment over at Phil. "Take Kat away. She doesn't need this right now."

"But I—" Phil began to protest.

"Just take her to her hotel room," Adam said, his voice like steel. "Jay," he yelled, noticing his best friend had decided to make an appearance as well. "Get over here."

Jay immediately did as he was told. "What happened?" he whispered to Adam but he didn't get an answer right away.

Instead, Adam took a very deep breath and turned around to make sure Phil had gotten Katrina as far as possible. Since he couldn't see them anywhere, he looked back at Jay. "Nobody says one bad thing about Kat on my watch," he finally said.

"Who said what?" Jay asked, ever so curious.

It was Chris who responded this time. "We're not exactly sure yet but we will find out."

Nodding in understanding, Jay said, "Okay, I got it."

Now, all of the NXT guys were standing around, backing their buddies up. Stu stood, much taller than the rest, with an angry glare. "Don't try and make this personal on account of that girl."

"That girl," Adam snarled, "happens to be my friend. And I don't take too kindly to people, especially punks like you, acting like you're better than everyone else. Trust me, it won't take long before the fans forget all about you."

His comment caught the attention of all the rookies. A shouting match ensued between the locker room veterans and the young guys. However, there was no physical contact, for their arguing was broken up by none other than the boss.

"All right, all right," Vince McMahon exclaimed. "What's going on here?" He pushed his way through the crowd of Superstars. He made his way to the front and was standing next to Chris. A hard glare was directed at the rookies.

Heath Slater cleared his throat. "Um, nothin' at all, Mr. McMahon. Everything's fine."

The chairman of the board eyed the rookie skeptically. "And you expect me to believe that?" he challenged. "These men are professionals. They don't lose their composure unless it's something big. So tell me, what's going on?"

"I've said it before," Adam spoke up. "I don't want wannabes getting up in my friends faces. It's not appreciated."

Vince looked at him. "What do you mean? Who are you talking about?"

"Katrina," Chris said coolly. "We're talking about Katrina."

Vince's head whipped around to look at the rookies. His stare was on them but he was speaking to Chris. "Which one?" When Chris pointed to Stu, Vince's eyes lit up. "Men," he said. "May I speak to Stu alone?"

All Superstars, new and old, departed, knowing better than to test the boss. Stu and Vince were now alone.

"Tell me what happened," Vince ordered.

"Exactly what Heath said," the Brit boomed. "Nothing. Copeland's just making a bigger deal of things than what they were. You know, making a huge mountain out of a tiny mole hill."

"Is there a reason why you keep touching your chin?" Vince asked.

"No, not at all." Stu instantly put his hands at his side.

While Stu was bigger and much younger than Vince, the chairman was one of those very intimidating people that you did not want to mess with. "I don't want you going anywhere near Katrina Hart," he commanded. "Don't talk to her or about her. Do I make myself clear?"

Stu merely nodded, unable to do anything else. He didn't move until long after Vince had walked away.

Meanwhile, back at Katrina's hotel room, she was irate and was taking her anger out on Phil by screaming. "Were you watching what happened tonight? Did you see what they did to Bret?"

"He's going to be fine," he tried to assure her.

"No, no, no," Katrina said, shaking her head. "Sometimes what may have happened is the worst part. I've been through this before. Anything could have happened."

"Your dad?" Phil asked quietly.

Katrina, who was pacing at the time, spun around to face him. "Yes," she said. "He wasn't supposed to die." She began her walking again.

Phil marched up to her and grabbed hold of her wrist, forcing her to look at him. "Yeah, but that's what this business is. Accidents happen. Not everything goes right all the time."

Finding it hard to look away, Katrina's eyes stayed on the tattooed man in front of her. "That doesn't make it any better."

"Then why are you a wrestler?" Phil questioned. "What happened to your dad was…unexpected but something like that could happen to you. Are you not worried about that?"

"I never worry about myself," she answered. "And besides, this is all I ever wanted to do. But my storylines don't involve being dropped from the ceiling or being in a car that's getting smashed into another one."

"But maybe something in the ring will happen. Your uncle has experience with that, too," Phil reminded her. "What if you get screwed out of a championship?"

"I don't think Vince would do that," she responded in a muted tone.

"Well, I'm sure Bret didn't think he would do that either."

Though the last thing she would do was let them show, Katrina felt tears ready to fall from her eyes. "How do you know it won't happen to you?" she retorted.

Phil let go of her hand and sat down on the bed. "I don't know that it won't happen. I just hope that it's not going to any time soon."

Katrina took a seat next to Phil and said, "It just makes me nervous. I was in Kansas City that night, you know. I saw him fall." A couple teardrops were making their way down her face but she made no move to brush them away. "I couldn't help thinking that I could have helped him somehow."

Phil lightly put his arm around the teary eyed girl. "There was nothing you would have been able to do," he soothed. "You were just a kid."

The tears were coming faster now, as were a few sobs. "It shouldn't have happened," she barely managed to get out.

"I know," Phil said. He opened his mouth to tell her something but there was a knock at the door. "Hold on a sec." Upon opening the door, Adam, Chris, and Jay nearly knocked him over.

"She still here?" Adam wondered.

Phil pointed to the bed. "Right there."

Adam, without hesitation, went over to Katrina. When he noticed that she had been crying, he took her hands in his. "You all right, Kat?"

Wiping her eyes, she nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm fine."

"Vince was going to talk to Stu," Adam told her. "I don't know what he said, but it couldn't have been good for him."

"I hope he didn't get fired or anything." When all the guys in the room gave her a strange look, she defended herself. "Well, would you want to lose your job on account of some girl? No."

"Kat," Chris said, going over to her. "You're not just some girl. And maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but I know for a fact that _I_ wouldn't mind losing my jobs over you. You're more important."

Katrina sniffled. "No, I'm not. I'm nobody."

For the next hour, it seemed like all the guys were doing was trying to convince Katrina that she was indeed _somebody_ and that they would make sure that no one would ever get away with letting her feel so low about herself.

"Can I…have some time alone?" she asked once they were through. She knew that they meant the best but she was in no mood to hear them. "I just need to think."

"Do you want us to leave or…?" Chris started.

"No, you can stay here," Katrina said. "There's room service. Order whatever you want to." She wiped her eyes one last time and, after picking up her jacket, she walked out of the door.

Kat had no idea where she was headed. No matter how much she loved her friends and appreciated what they did for her, there were times when she just needed to get away from them. From everyone.

She walked down the street and found herself standing in front of a local diner. The place was small and quaint. Without thinking, Katrina pushed the door open and walked in.

Very few people were there, considering it was after midnight. Katrina made her way over to the front where a couple was sharing a late night sundae on the stools.

"Excuse me," Kat said to the lady working the cash register. "Do you have menus or something?"

The woman, whose nametag read "Jayne," gave Katrina a rude once-over. "Hold on." She went into a back room.

Katrina took a seat on one of the stools and noticed that the man and woman who she saw when she came in were now staring at her. "Uh, hello," she said, trying to be polite.

"I'm sorry," the guy said. "My wife here was just saying that you look a lot like some wrestler." He looked over at the lady next to him and whispered, "It can't be her. What would she be doing here?"

"Well, what wrestler are you talking about?" Katrina probed. "Maybe I've heard of them."

The guy's wife appeared very timid. "I'm not sure what her name is," she answered. "But her whole family's into wrestling. Their last name is Hart."

Inside, Katrina was both swelling with pride and feeling dejected. The pride because someone knew of her family, but the dejection because the person didn't know who she was. "Well," Katrina said slowly. "I believe I've heard of them but I'm not really sure. Sorry." She did what she always did when she was recognized even if it barely happened. She lied. She didn't want to be bombarded.

It took a while but eventually the cashier came back out. "Here," she said, throwing a menu on the table.

Right when she began looking at it, Kat heard someone saying her name and without delay, she turned to see who it was.

Serena Deeb stood at the doorway of the diner, glaring at Katrina with disdain. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was just going out for a walk and stopped by," the blonde replied. "What about you?"

Suddenly, Serena's demeanor changed. A smile was plastered on her face and her tone was different. More jovial. "I just heard that this place was pretty good."

"Oh?" Katrina said, unsure if she should believe her. "I had no idea about this place at all. I wanted to get away from the guys."

"Was…was, um, Phil there?" Serena asked, biting her lip.

Katrina now knew what Serena was after. She was seriously after Phil. Her character often appeared that way, but Kat had no idea that she may actually feel like that. "He was there," she answered. "I don't know if he still is."

"Figures," she sighed. Her face showed her hurt. "He hasn't been answering his phone. I can't get a hold of him. He's been acting very vague lately, too."

"No one's been themselves lately," Katrina muttered. "Anyway, I'm sure Phil's still there. If you want to see him that bad, I'll show you where my room is." The young Canadian didn't know why she was being nice to the strange straight-edge woman but she was.

"Really?" Serena said, her eyes shining. "That'd be great."

The two women left the diner without ordering any food. They walked, talking very little, until they got to the hotel.

When they were in front of the door, Katrina pressed her ear to it. "I hear voices. They're in there," she said before opening the door.

Inside, one of the scariest sites Katrina had ever seen was before her. It was so terrifying, she felt the need to turn away. But this was like a train wreck. It was so bad that you just had to look.

Chris, the man who the whole WWE Universe knew as a stuck up perfectionist in a suit, was on Kat's bed, shirtless and singing. "Can't read my, can't read my, no, he can't read my poker face…" His notes were off-key, despite the fact that he was a singer.

"Chris!" Katrina screamed.

The man in question quickly turned to where the voice was coming from. Embarrassed, he said, "Oh…Um, hey, Kat. How's it going?"

"What are you doing?" Katrina had never been afraid of Chris. Not when he smashed Shawn Michaels' face into the Jeritron 5000, not when he had his tooth knocked out. But this…this was something else entirely.

"Nothing."

"Where are the rest of the guys?" Katrina asked, now shielding her eyes. "Are they around?"

Chris shook his head. "No, not at the moment. They went downstairs, I think."

Katrina looked toward Serena and opened her eyes. "I guess we're going downstairs. Chris, why can't you do that in your room?"

"'Cause I was in yours."

"All right," Kat groaned. "From now on, if something is in my name or is claimed as mine, there will be no Lady Gaga. Understood?"

"Yes."

"I will not have that freak anywhere around me." Turning to the door, Katrina said to Serena, "After you."

Once they had escaped the strangeness that is Chris, Serena and Katrina made their way downstairs to try and find Adam, Jay, and Phil.

"Chris is so weird," Katrina was saying before spotting Adam's blonde locks. "There!" She grabbed Serena's hand and pulled her over to where the three men were sitting.

"Hey, Kat," Jay said upon seeing her. "Where've you been?"

"Just roaming. Nothing major," she answered. "Hey, did you guys know that Chris is half naked in my room, singing?"

"Yep," Adam said. "That's why we left."

"Phil!" Serena shouted. She walked over to him, completely ignoring Adam and Jay. "I called you. You didn't answer."

"Oh," Phil said, surprised to see his on-screen minion. "My phone was off."

"Why?" The way Serena's voice sounded made her sound like a nagging girlfriend. Her tone was whiny.

Phil pushed his hair back behind his ears. "Because I didn't want to be bothered for a while."

Before an all-out war could start between them, Katrina did what she usually did when Adam and Chris fought: she kind of yelled at them. "Guys! Whatever it is, it's no big deal. Serena, everyone needs a break sometimes. Phil, maybe you should keep your phone on."

"Oh," Serena said, turning on Kat in an instant. "Don't even think of telling me what to do. The last thing I'm going to do is let someone like you boss me around."

"I wasn't bossing…" Katrina trailed off.

"Yeah, you were," Serena snarled.

"Are you serious right now?" Adam asked, getting annoyed and mad. "She's just giving you some advice. She doesn't want to see people argue."

Katrina put a comforting hand on Adam's shoulder. "Ad, it's fine. I'm not going to force people to listen to me. Don't worry about it."

"No, it's not fine. I'm not going to let people just walk over you like that. You're from a dynasty, for crying out loud!" he shouted.

"Adam," Katrina said, her voice relaxing. "Just trust me. It's fine. Everyone is entitled to an opinion."

Though for the time being Katrina had Adam under control, the rest of the situation was another story. She watched as Serena grabbed Phil's wrist and tugged him away from the Canadians, saying, "Why do you keep hanging out with them?"

"What was that about?" Jay wondered when the SES members were gone. "She's so controlling."

"I don't know but there's something off about her," Adam added.

Katrina rolled her eyes, not wanting to get too involved. If Serena wanted to be a jerk, that was her problem. "Let's go make sure Chris is done with his Lady Gaga karaoke," she said to them.

**How was that? Serena can be rude, right? And what about Stu? Well, I hope you liked it somewhat. Tell me what you think in a review. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I appreciate reviews, favorites, subscriptions, etc. If this chapter took a while, I apologize. I am a bit bitter and was not happy. I don't like things being cancelled on me. But anyway, why don't you read, review, and so on?**

**Disclaimer: If it's recognizable, I don't own it.**

"Can we just go already?" Katrina asked. A week had passed since the awkwardness with Serena and neither girl had any contact with each other unless absolutely necessary. At present, Kat was stuck in the mall with Barbie Blank. Specifically, at a very girly store, something the young Canadian was not very fond of.

"Oh, quit your crying," Barbie told her. "I thought you were supposed to be tough, not a little baby."

Katrina glared at the blonde in front of her. "I am so not a little baby," she retorted.

"Then quit complaining," Barbie fired back. She pulled a shirt off of a rack. "Here. Do you like this?"

With a roll of her eyes, Kat glanced at the shirt. It was a dark pink t-shirt with a black heart and a silver sword going through it. "It's fine," she said nonchalantly.

Barbie shoved the shirt into Kat's face. "Come on!" she shouted. "It's totally Hart Foundation. Totally you. What do you mean it's just fine? Hurry, go try it on. I want to see how it looks." She pushed her toward a dressing room.

"No, Barb, I don't want to go," Katrina tried saying but it didn't matter. She found herself in a tiny room with only a mirror and the shirt. "Ridiculous," she said to herself. After a moment's hesitation, she took the shirt off the hanger and pulled the one she was wearing off.

She didn't want to try the shirt on. It was just the simple design that bothered her, brought back memories. Katrina wasn't fond of certain memories. As she stared at the image in the mirror, one of those memories came flooding back.

It was the summer of 1997. Standing in the backstage area was the Hart family. Just days earlier, along with the wrestling fans, had lost someone that they considered far too young and far too important to die: Brian Pillman. Katrina stood between her father and her uncle, Jim, whose daughter, Natalie, had a cool expression on her face. She was unaffected.

_Katrina, however, was overwhelmed. Brian had been one of those key components in her life, and she never thought she would lose him. Her dad was pushing her long blonde hair out her face, wiping her tears away, too. The eleven-year old couldn't remember the last time she cried this much. No one else was so emotional at the brief gathering. But Katrina was never like the rest of the family._

"_Come on, Kitty Kat," Owen, like any concerned father, said in a comforting tone. "Please, please quit crying, honey. Everything's going to be fine."_

_As much as she tried, the young girl couldn't shake the feeling that nothing was going to be fine. Nothing would ever be the same. Katrina looked up into her father's eyes and desperately wanted to believe him. But she knew she couldn't._

_Before anyone could form any new sentiments, the Harts watched as the eldest of Owen's brood fell backwards, her eyes closing, her head hitting the floor._

"_Kat!" Owen screamed over all the gasps of the others._

As if someone slapped her, Katrina came out of her reverie and looked back at the mirror. "Oh!" she exclaimed. Her head felt dizzy. "Ugh." She focused on the image before her.

The heart was getting on her nerves, for it was eerily similar to the Harts' logo. She didn't want to be a walking billboard for them, especially when she wasn't that close to them.

Other than her obvious discomfort, the shirt was fine for her. Katrina didn't know why Barbie was so set on it but she figured she'd make her friend happy and buy it.

After changing back into her original shirt, Kat left the stall and began looking for her companion. "Barb," she called. There was no answer. Katrina had assumed that she would be out waiting for her. "Barbie?"

"Katrina?"

_That wasn't Barbie_, Katrina thought. She turned on her heel to see where that now all too familiar voice was coming from. "Phil?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged and smiled. "Hiding," he said simply. "You?"

"Barbie," she answered. "She thinks that by taking me to the mall, she's going to turn me into a girly girl. Between you and me, I think she's delusional."

"Katrina Helen Hart!"

The only Katrina around sighed. _Now, that's Barbie_, she thought. "How do you know my middle name?" she questioned upon seeing the crazy girl.

Barbie winked and wriggled her eyebrows. "Oh, I have my ways, Miss Kat. I have my ways. But that's not what I want to talk to you about. How am I delusional?"

Kat merely shook her head at Barbie. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Whatever. I'm taking this shirt. Whether you want it or not, I am buying it for you," she declared.

"Yeah, all right, sure." Katrina wasn't in the mood for hearing Barbie babble on right then. "Just buy it."

If Chris, Adam, or Jay were there, they would have noticed that something was up. One look at Katrina's face would have given her away. But this was Barbie. She was new, in a way. She didn't know Kat as well as others so she didn't realize anything was wrong. "Trust me, Kat," she said. "You're going to love it." She walked over to the cash register to pay for the items.

"So…" Phil trailed off when Barbie was gone. "How have you been?"

Katrina sighed. "I have had much better weeks," she answered.

"But right now," he began. "Something's up."

Looking up at Phil in surprise, Katrina muttered, "Well, someone's paying attention today." Louder, she said, "Yeah, something is."

"Wanna tell me what that something is?" he pressed.

"Nope," Katrina replied. "Not right now anyway."

No more was said, for Barbie was back and she wasn't alone. "Katrina," she said. "Look who I found." She pointed to the brunette beside her. "Eve was just wandering around and I saw her. And she wants to go to the place right across from here. You want to come?"

Inside her head, Katrina was saying, "Save me the time, please," while she actually said, after looking at the store, "Oh, no. You guys can go without me. That store…It's not really my cup of tea, you know?" She also wasn't all that close with Eve Torres, probably because they let her win the Divas' Championship instead of much more capable titleholders.

"All right," Barbie said, not really wanting to leave without Katrina. "If you really don't want to go… Well, I won't force you to."

"I'll probably just go back to the hotel," Kat assured her. "I don't think I'll get lost or anything."

"Okay. Here's your shirt," sighed Barbie. She turned to Eve. "Shall we shop, Torres?"

"We shall," the former champ replied.

Now, all alone with Phil, Katrina didn't know what to do. She sort of wished that she had agreed to go with Barbie and Eve. The atmosphere in the store was a very awkward one. "So, how are you?" Kat asked, breaking the silence. She didn't really want to talk to him, not since he was able to recognize when something was weird.

"Fine." Phil shifted uncomfortably.

"Look," Kat sighed. "If we can't stand in a room together, how are we going to get anywhere? Hmm?"

A smile broke out on Phil's face. "You're right. Why don't we…have lunch or something together? You know, to get to know each other a little better."

Katrina thought that there wasn't much Phil needed to know about her. Her father died in a freak accident and she bawled her eyes out to him not that long ago. But she still nodded. "Yeah, sure. To get to know each other."

"Well," he said before going into an impersonation of Barbie. "Shall we eat, Hart?"

Laughing, Katrina couldn't help but get into the act. "We shall, Brooks." She took his outstretched hand and the two walked out of the store that neither was interested in.

"Where do you want to go?" Phil asked after walking around for a little while. "There are all sorts of weird fast food places around, I'm sure."

"Wendy's," Katrina said immediately. "I say we go to Wendy's."

"This woman knows what she wants," Phil murmured with a grin. "I like it."

They made their way to a close by Wendy's and stood in line, waiting to order.

"What are you going to get?" Phil whispered to her, eyeing the guy in front of them who was ordering what seemed like everything on the menu.

"I don't know," Kat said with a shrug. "A chicken sandwich probably. Why, what are you getting?"

He smiled. "I'll have the same."

When their order was made, they quickly grabbed their food and drinks—a Coke for Kat and a Pepsi for Phil, of course—the picked a table to sit at.

Just as Katrina had stuffed her face with her sandwich, she saw two giddy teenagers walk toward her table. They were giggling excessively. "Um, hi," one of them, a brunette girl, said. She was looking directly at Kat. "Are you, uh, Katrina Hart and…and CM Punk?"

Phil took the question. "Hmm… Possibly. Why, you fans?"

The brunette turned to her friend, another girl, this one redheaded, and the two laughed some more. "Yeah," the same girl said. "We've been watching for years."

"Yep," the redhead spoke up, looking at Kat. "I remember the cage match between your dad and your uncle. You were in the audience with the rest of your family, right?"

Katrina smiled at the memory. It was the night Owen and Bret were going to duke it out for the World Championship at SummerSlam. Kat recalled waiting for months to see her dad win the big one, but he didn't so it was bittersweet. "I was there. So were Nattie and Harry. I think we were all there actually."

"Anyway," the blonde started talking again. "We were just wondering if you could give us your autographs, since we're huge fans. But if we're imposing—"

"No, no," said Katrina, shaking her head. "You're not imposing at all." She liked that they knew her name, not just the rest of her family's. Besides, two bright-eyed teens seeking a signature was the last thing she was worrying about. "Where do you want me to sign? Do you have a pen or something with you?"

"Just hold on one second, okay?" the flame-haired girl said. The two teenagers retreated back to their table, only to be back seconds later. "Here." She set down a WWE Magazine in front of Katrina. "Your picture's in there somewhere. Ooh, and here's a pen."

Taking the writing utensil, Kat flipped through the magazine, scanning it for herself. It didn't take long. She found a photo of her using a Sharpshooter on Beth Phoenix. "What's you guys' names?" she asked before signing.

"I'm Elena," brunette girl said. "She's Dani."

"It's short for Danielle," the redhead piped up. "Dani's more fun of a name, as long as no one thinks I'm a boy."

Smiling at her, Kat said, "Well, don't worry. I don't think you're a boy." She began writing a little note to the two of them right away that read, _To Dani and Elena, it's always good meeting some true fans. It's an honor performing for you in the WWE. With love, Kat Hart._

"There you go," she said when she finished. "You want me to find a picture of Mr. Punk for him to sign?" They gave her a nod so she searched for him. When she did, she took a long look at it and then at the real Phil in front of her.

"What?" he asked, not liking the way she was looking at him.

"Have you ever thought of shaving that beard?" blurted Katrina.

"Um, excuse me?" Phil wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly.

"All I'm saying is," Katrina began, "you're beard isn't exactly the most attractive thing in the world." She shrugged. "You used to look so much better when you first came in. You can always shave that thing, you know?" Since Phil, whose mouth was wide open, seemed to be in no condition to reply, Katrina handed him the magazine. "Here you go."

Elena and Dani began giggling again, this time at Kat's jab.

Meanwhile, Phil was trying to regain his composure as he scribbled some short message over his picture. He handed the mag back to the girls. "Can…can you give Katrina and I a moment, please? I have to talk to her."

They left, still tittering. Katrina looked at Phil. "What's wrong? Don't like that…_stuff_ on your face being insulted?"

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it if your opinions about my face were kept to yourself."

"It's not your face, per se," Katrina corrected. "It's what you let grow on it."

Phil decided it was best to just smile and ignore her.

**x-X-x**

A couple hours later, they were back at the hotel that the Superstars were staying at. "I'll walk you to your room," Phil offered.

"Just be careful," warned Katrina. "You never know when Adam or Chris are going to pop up and ambush you. They've done that to me many a time."

When they were standing at her door, Phil was gazing at her. "We should hang out again sometime," he said. "Except maybe we shouldn't just randomly bump into each other at the mall."

Katrina smiled. "So no random bumping? You'd rather have it planned?"

"I think it would be easier that way, don't you think?" Phil asked.

"Sounds oddly like a date," Katrina continued in a skeptical tone.

Phil didn't know what to say. "W-well," he stammered. "It-it doesn't have to be, you know. We c-can always just go as friends, right?"

Laughing at Phil, Katrina nodded. She shocked herself by finding it somewhat cute when Phil was struggling for words. "Yeah," she said. "We can go as friends."

Phil's face lit up. "Great!" he exclaimed. "I'll uh, call y—"

"Katrina!" two loud, annoying, and expected voices called.

"I told you they'd do that," Katrina muttered to Phil.

Coming toward them was Adam and Chris, of course. Once they got to Kat, Adam put an arm around his younger friend. "Where you been all day?" he asked. "We haven't seen you."

Katrina escaped Adam's arm. "Phil here saved me from shopping with Barbie," she told him.

"Well, you could've called us," Chris added. "We would've taken care of that girl."

"Yeah, but Phil was right there so he helped out." She grinned at him.

Phil returned her smile but said, "I better get going. Luke and Serena are going to want to get on the road ASAP. I'll, um, see you all around." He waved and then left.

"Bye," Katrina said, waving back.

Adam was staring at her. "Hanging out with the Straight Edge leader and not us? Seriously?"

"I thought we were your go-to guys!" an outraged Chris shouted. "You're not replacing us, are you?"

Katrina had no clue what he was talking about. "Wait. What?"

"I think you're replacing us with Phil," Chris accused. "And I don't like it one bit!"

"You get crazier the older you get," said Katrina. "Maybe you're getting some kind of disease."

Adam shook his head. "No, Kitty," he said. "Being fat is not a disease. Chris brought that on himself. If you quit eating all those cupcakes…"

"I do not eat cupcakes!" Chris interrupted with a scream.

"Sure, Chris," Katrina began her lie. "You don't eat cupcakes at all."

Chris's response was to glare at the both of them. "Just shut up. I'm sick of hearing you two talk. All you do is make fun of me."

Katrina instantly felt bad. "Aw, Chris. You know we lo—" She caught the look on Adam's face so she corrected herself. "—I love you. And I promise you that tomorrow, wherever it is that we're going, I will spend the whole day with you, okay?"

"You got yourself a deal, Kat," Chris said, grabbing her hand to shake it.

Once Kat was alone in her room later that night, she realized what she had done. "Ugh," she groaned. "A whole day with Chris. One long, long day. Why did I make that offer? Why?"

**How was that? Any good? I personally think it's funny when Adam and Chris ruin the moment. Anyway, I've been wondering about something. Since Katrina has all of these memories surrounding her father and the rest of the Harts, would it be a good idea to put one-shots up about her past? You know, to get more of an understanding of her? 'Cause I have some written already. Let me know what you all think in a review or a PM. Whichever. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and everything. They make my day. Hope you like the new chapter. I'm so sorry it's taken awhile. This document was deleted so I had to redo it and I couldn't remember what I had written…Anyway, don't worry about it. Just read, review, and enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: If it's recognizable, it's not mine.**

_Chapter 7_

"Aah!" screamed Katrina into her pillow in the wee hours of the morning. She was in the middle of some serious self-loathing. "Why did I have to subject myself to this?"

Her roommate, Gail Kim, patted the younger girl's hair. "Aw, Kat. I'm sorry, but you got yourself into this mess. Chris didn't ask you to spend the whole day with him."

"I know," Katrina moaned. "That's the problem. It Chapter 7_is_ all my fault. I did this. I just don't know why I did."

"I don't know," Gail said in her calming voice. "I guess you're just too selfless for your own good. In this case, it's a bad characteristic. Any other time, it's good. But this time…" She shook her head. "Just put on a brave front and hang out with him."

All Katrina could manage to get out was an "Ugh."

Sometime later, Gail and Katrina were sitting in front of the T.V, bored out of their minds, when suddenly an idea came into the latter's head. "Hey, Gail," she said. "Why don't you come with me and Chris?"

"Why would I want to be stuck with him?"

"Maybe I can get Adam to come, too," Katrina suggested. "I know Chris loves yelling at him. He might actually like this idea."

Gail was understandably skeptical. This was Chris they were talking about. "What makes you think that he would go for something like that?"

"Because his favorite pastime is being mean to Adam. And I know the feeling is mutual for Adam. I'm sure it will go over fine."

_-Two hours later-_

"Excuse me!" Chris shouted from the doorway.

"Shh! Will you keep quiet?" Katrina was not expecting Chris's reaction to be so…unwelcoming. "Why are you making this such a big deal?"

"I don't want to be anywhere near that…that _thing_!"

"Don't worry, Irvine," Adam said. "You're the last person I'd want to spend the day with. The only reason why I told Kat yes is because I feel bad for her. She needs someone who she actually likes to be with her."

"Katrina loves me!" Chris snapped at him.

"Not as much as she loves me," retorted Adam.

"Oh, please," said Gail, walking in on the conversation. "Everyone knows that I'm the one she really loves."

Katrina simply rolled her eyes. "Thanks, you are really making this so much better." She turned her attention back to the guys. "I'm not even asking you to be nice to each other. I just want you to both be with me today. And Gail, too."

"Yeah, I don't get why she's here either," Chris wondered.

"Because she's my friend," said Katrina, stating the obvious.

It was Adam's turn to be annoying. "Then why isn't Jay here?"

With a sigh, Katrina said, "Jay's allowed to come. Do you want him to be here?"

"Nope, not at all."

"Uh-huh. I figured as much." Katrina ran her fingers through her hair. "Can't we just all go out and hang as friends?" No one said anything. "Chris, you know you wouldn't be able to live without screaming at Adam. And Adam, _you _know that you live to call Chris fat."

"Hey!" was Chris's great response.

Katrina ignored him. "So why don't you guys do that today?"

"Fine," Adam groaned. "If you really want me to."

"One down, one to go," Katrina said. "Chris?"

"Only if you say that I am not fat."

She walked over to Chris, who was sullen and hurt, and put an arm around him. "You're not fat, Chris. You're pudgy in all the right places."

"That sounds better," Chris approved. "All right, I'll deal with Adam."

Gail clapped her hands together excitedly. "See?" she said. "We can all live happily ever after."

**x-X-x**

Walking around the new city that they were in—Bethlehem, Pennsylvania—they discussed random topics. One was Billy Joel's song, "Allentown."

"It was written about Bethlehem," Katrina had said. "But Allentown had a better ring to it or something. Everything he sings about relates to this city."

"Did you discover this when you were doing you doing your extensive Billy Joel research?" cracked Adam.

"No," she replied. "Just when I was watching his All-Time Top Ten on Vh1 Classic."

In between their talks, Chris made a point to stop at every food place they came across, much to everyone's annoyance.

"God, Chris," Adam grumbled at one point. "Do you have to get another jelly-filled donut?"

"It's not a jelly-filled donut," Chris said quietly. He instantly became bashful. "It's glazed."

Shaking her head, Katrina said, "Chris, maybe you shouldn't have anymore donuts after this one."

"It's too late now," Gail whispered to Katrina, hoping Chris wouldn't hear.

He didn't, for he was too busy being self-conscious. "I really do have a problem," he mumbled to himself.

Putting an arm around her sullen friend, Katrina said, "Don't worry, bud. We'll help you get through this."

A short time later, they were just wandering around with no purpose in their minds. For the most part, everyone was just enjoying spending the day together. Excluding Adam and Chris who cunningly teased each other to no end.

"If I'm fatter, how can you lift me but I can barely get you two centimeters off the ground?" Adam was asking. "Your logic is really messed up."

"Kat, can you tell them to stop?" Gail asked. "They're giving me migraines." Katrina gave no answer. "Kat? Kat?"

There was no reply, for something in the distance caught Katrina's attention. It was Serena, yet again.

"What is she doing here?" Adam said, disgust lacing his voice.

"She's allowed to walk around, I guess," Chris responded. "But I still don't like her." He looked over at Katrina, who was still staring ahead. Her eyes gave away a discomfort that Chris didn't see often in her. "Hey, Kat, is everything all right?"

Breaking out of her daze, Katrina glanced at Chris. "Yeah, everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?" She had thought that no one had noticed her staring but apparently she was wrong.

Chris shrugged. "I don't know. You just don't—"

"Crap!" Adam almost shouted. "She saw us. Now, she's gonna come over here."

It was true; Serena had seen their group. But she wasn't coming toward them. Not yet. Instead, she looked over to her right where another figure was standing.

Katrina recognized instantly who it was. "Phil's with her," she said.

"Ooh," said Adam, pretending he was scared. "Big, bad straight-edge Punk." Right after the words left his mouth, he expertly dodged an elbow to the ribs, via Katrina.

"Don't be a jerk," Gail said. "Phil hasn't done anything. He's real nice."

"Whatever," Adam sighed. "As long as he's nice to our Kitty Kat, right?" He playfully poked her ribs.

"Ad, shut up," she replied. "Don't draw attention to yourself if you don't want them coming over here."

A roll of the eyes was Adam's usual response and this time, it was no different. "Fine, I'll stop. But only 'cause you told me to. But really, it doesn't matter. They're coming anyway."

Apparently, Adam couldn't be stopped in the prediction category because he was right again. Phil and Serena were on their way toward them.

"Copeland's good today," whispered Gail to Katrina, who nodded in agreement.

"Why can't they just stay where they are?" Chris complained. "It's not like we really want them anywhere near us."

"Katrina does," Adam pointed out. "Actually, that's not so accurate. Katrina only wants Punk over here."

"Quit being an idiot. Serena might be evil but Phil isn't," said Katrina. "He's usually pretty nice."

"_Usually_," stressed Chris. "That doesn't mean always."

"Cut it out," Katrina said back.

Serena and Phil were getting closer to them and Chris kept muttering under his breath. It wasn't clear what he was saying, for his voice was too low.

"Here they come," Gail said in a sing-song voice.

From what Katrina could see, Serena did not look very happy. A scowl seemed to be permanently planted on her face and the saying of "Don't make that face or it'll stay like that" came to Kat's mind.

It wasn't much longer when the two groups were face to face.

"Hello," Phil said, being as pleasant as he could in what he, and everyone else, knew would be an awkward situation.

"Hi," Katrina and Gail both said at the same time. Adam, Chris, and Serena all stayed silent, having a bit of a stair down.

"How've you all been?" asked Phil. He was shifting slightly on his heels but looking only at Katrina.

Therefore, she was the only one who answered. "Oh, you know, fine, I guess. I mean, everything's been the same." Though she couldn't explain why, Katrina was feeling a bit flustered. "And you?"

"Good," he replied simply. For a moment, his eyes drifted to the happenings of the rest of them but that moment didn't last long. He was looking back at Katrina a second later.

Not knowing what to say, Katrina went for a safe topic amongst wrestlers. "Do you have any idea if McMahon's going to get on the ball with the company? There are a lot of talented guys here who aren't getting used."

"Not just guys," he pointed out. "I don't see him giving you and Gail any title shots. It's pretty much disgracing the Women's Championship."

With a nod, Katrina said, "Yep. Fabulous Moohlah would be disgusted. Actually, I was talking to Trish Stratus not that long ago, and she's upset about it. So if she doesn't like it, it's pretty major."

"Someone needs to say something to him," Phil said.

Adam butted into the conversation now. "Like I told Kat before, no one knows what's going on in Vince's mind. It's best just to stay out of it and let the billionaire do what he wants."

Katrina didn't like that. "Yeah but—"

Adam put his hand out to stop her. "Let him do what he wants."

"It's still not right," Gail said.

The only people not in on the discussion were Serena and Chris, who were still glaring at one another like little children. Eventually, one of them gave in and it wasn't Chris.

"All right," said an agitated Serena. "I'm gonna go back to the hotel. Phil, you coming, too?"

Phil looked over at Serena and said, "Um, yeah, in a few minutes. I'll meet you back there, all right?"

Looking even more disturbed than before, Serena sighed. "Okay, fine. I guess I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, bye," Phil said and waited for Serena to walk away before saying, "I've been stuck with her all day. She's nice and everything. I just can't be around her that much."

"Oh, I know the feeling," responded Katrina, shooting a look at her friends who weren't paying close attention. Gail and Adam were making fun of Chris's rolls. "I offered to hang with Chris today."

Phil couldn't help but laugh. "Why?" he wondered.

"Well," Katrina began. "How can I put this? He was kind of jealous of you actually."

Letting out a few more laughs, Phil said, "Pardon?"

"He was mad because I was hanging out with you and not him," she explained. "He was crazy green with envy."

"Wow. Chris Jericho was jealous of me," said Phil in amazement. "I don't know if I should be honored or weirded out." He shook his head. "For now, I'll take honored. It makes me feel like I have power over him."

"I would take honored too," Katrina agreed.

"I thought it sounded good."

For a few minutes, they were both quiet. However, it didn't take long for one of them to break the silence.

It was Phil. "Hey, I've, uh, been meaning to ask you something."

"Yes?" Katrina prompted.

His eyes darted over to Katrina's friends and then slowly drifted back to her. "Well, I was thinking, maybe you would want to go out to dinner with me tonight? Before or after the show. You can pick." When Kat didn't say anything, Phil began speaking quickly. "Or you can just say no. I wouldn't blame you or anything. It is sort of out of the blue…"

Katrina wasn't sure what to say. Deep inside of her, something was telling her to tell him yes, but her mind was saying no. She didn't want to be even more on Serena's bad side. After some internal debating, she came up with her answer. "Sure. But you pick the time. I don't like making decisions."

In a flash, Phil's eyes were piercing hers. "Did you just say that you would?"

"Yeah."

"Great!" he exclaimed, now gaining the attention of the others. "Uh, you want to do this before the show? In that case, no one's all gross after a match or anything."

She laughed at him and said, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

"All right. How 'bout we meet in the lobby of the hotel a couple of hours before we have to leave for the arena?" Katrina nodded so Phil said, "Okay, I better go and get ready then. I'll see you later."

"Okay," squeaked out Katrina before Phil waved and turned away.

When he was out of sight, Gail jabbed Kat. "What was that about?"

"Phil just asked me out," she told her.

"Wait, what did you just say?" asked Chris.

"Yeah, what?" Adam wondered also.

"Don't worry about it," Katrina snapped back at them. "It doesn't concern you."

**I have a feeling this could've gone a lot better but oh, well…I'm not sure when my next update will be because of school and everything. However, I promise I will update when I can. Until then, my birthday was Friday and your present to me can be a review. If you want to, of course. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So sorry if this has taken forever to be updated. I take full responsibility. I've just been feeling like absolute crap lately. But I am rediscovering myself, getting to know what made me who I happen to be, figuring out who my real friends are. All factors that probably had something to with me finally getting to write this chapter, even if it's sort of short. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. :)**

**Disclaimer: If it's recognizable, it is not mine. I only own my OC, Katrina.  
**

Chapter 8

"No, no, no, no, no," said Adam upon hearing about Katrina's date with Phil. "This is not happening. I don't know why you think that this is happening. 'Cause it's not."

"Adam," Katrina whined. "Why are you doing this? You know that it's not your decision."

Simply staring back at her, Adam didn't waste time answering. "Because, Kat, you are not to be trusted making decisions like that. You don't exactly have the most boyfriend experience," he tried explaining.

"Oh, and you do?" prompted Katrina. "I've never really bothered to get into your personal business, but maybe all those things I've heard about you and Chris are true."

"What!" the two men shouted at the same time.

Katrina raised her eyebrows at them. "Nothing, nothing at all."

Since Adam knew exactly what she meant, he quickly became infuriated. "Katrina, you know damn well that what you are talking about is a lie. Who would ever want to get with Chris, man or woman?"

"Yeah," Chris agreed at first. Then, "Hey, wait—"

"Just don't bother," replied Katrina. "Anyway, Adam, you can't control who I go on a date with. And besides, I thought you liked Phil."

With a sigh, Adam said, "Yeah, I like Punk. I just don't like Punk putting the moves on one of my best friends."

"Yeah, but Punk's never done that to me," said Jay from his spot on the bed.

Other than a glare in Jay's direction, Adam didn't respond to him. "The last thing I need to think about is you getting corrupted by some tattooed freak." He shuddered.

"You have tattoos," Katrina pointed out. They had never really been Katrina's thing but if she thought the person was nice enough, she was not going to be one to judge.

"But that's different."

"How?" shouted Katrina. She was sick of hearing this from Adam. He had no right. She was a grown woman who could go on a date with anyone that she wanted to. She didn't need his permission.

"It…it just is!" Adam said back. "That's not the point!"

Katrina nodded at him. "Uh-huh. The point is you can't control what I do. Who the hell do you think you are? My father?"

Adam quickly changed the subject. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this? Why can't you just accept the fact that I don't want you going out with him and take my advice?"

"Because, Adam, it is a big deal! You have no right. You can't just sit there and tell me what I'm not allowed to do. I _never_ do that to you."

"Kat, I told you this is—"

She interrupted him. "Different, I know." She scoffed. "God, Adam. I never thought you'd be like this. Especially considering how nice I am to you. Did I tell you that going after Amy was a bad idea? No, I kept my mouth shut. Did I think it? Hell, yes. She was with Matt and you were married, for Pete's sake! But I said nothing."

Adam was silent through her rant, letting her words seep in. The last thing he wanted was to hear about his ex-girlfriend. He didn't like talking about it ever. "All right, Kat, I understand you're angry—"

"You bet I'm angry."

"Let me finish. I know you're mad and I understand that. It's just…" He looked down at his hands. "Kat, I don't want to see you get hurt." His eyes met hers. "I worry about you."

Katrina didn't know what to say so, instead of talking, she walked over to Adam and gave him a hug, holding him tight. "I know you do, Addie, but you don't have to."

Burying his face in her hair, Adam whispered, "Yeah, I do." He pulled back to look at her. "You're my best friend, you know that. You also know that your dad told me to make sure you're safe. I'm just trying to keep my promise. I don't know why he ever trusted me."

"He always liked you," Katrina said back. "He thought you were good then. He'd be proud of you if he was around now."

"Nah, he'd really be proud of you. Don't tell your brother or sister, but you were always his favorite."

Katrina giggled. "Tell me something I don't know."

"I think she knows everything," Chris said from his seat next to Jay. "_Everything._"

"Shut up, Chris," Adam said. "Can't you see I'm hugging my friend?" He held onto her for a few seconds longer and then let her go. "Now, what are you waiting for? You got a date to go on, Miss Katrina."

"So you're giving me permission, Mr. Copeland?" asked a hopeful Katrina.

Shaking his head, Adam said, "Well, you don't need my permission, really, do you? But, sure, I guess in a way, I'm allowing you to go on a date with Punk. Just promise me one thing." He waited for Katrina to nod. When she did, he continued. "If he lays one hand on you—and you told him not to—Enziguri kick right to the head."

Katrina began laughing and when she was finally able to control herself, she stopped and smiled up at Adam. "Okay, I promise. Phil will get kicked in the head if he makes one wrong move."

"Can I kick him too?" Jay asked after being quiet for some time.

"Nope," Adam replied.

"Aw."

Gail, who had been silent for the whole conversation, finally spoke up with a clap of her hands. "All right, Kat. Now, let's go. We gotta get you all dressed up for your date. Come on!" She grabbed Kat's hand, despite the attempted protests. "Quit being a baby."

In despair, Katrina looked to Chris. "Help me."

"No can do," he said, laughing at her expression. She looked as if she was going to cry. He almost felt bad for her.

Since she was going to have no chance to escape, Katrina decided it would be best if she just let Gail make her up, no matter how much it was going to hurt her. In times like these, Gail believed that you had to suffer for beauty.

"Okay," Gail said when they were in their room. "What are you going to wear?"

"Well, I was thinking—"

"Ah, ah, ah. I've got the perfect thing." Gail rushed over to where her suitcase was sitting and pulled out a short, pale pink dress. "We're about the same size so this should fit you." She walked over and handed the dress to Katrina.

"So you just randomly bring a dress with you when you travel?" asked Katrina, a bit confused.

"Well, you never know when you're gonna need one," she answered easily. It made sense to her.

"Okay," Katrina said slowly. "I'll try this on. But if it doesn't fit, I get to pick an outfit."

"You don't have much time so hurry!" rushed Gail. "Go!"

Katrina went into the bathroom to put the dress on. She was most definitely unsure of it. There was no way that it would fit her. There was no way that she would really like it that much. She'd be much too uncomfortable in it, especially since it wasn't even hers.

Reluctantly, she slipped the dress on, feeling that it was too short, and walked out of the bathroom and waited to get stared down by Gail.

Upon looking at her friend in the form fitting dress, Gail was speechless.

"That bad, eh?" Katrina had instantly assumed.

Gail quickly shook her head. "Oh, no. No, not at all. You look…You look…fantastic."

Katrina's eyes lit up. "Really? It doesn't look awful?"

"No, honey. Kat, you look so beautiful. I told you the dress would fit. When Phil sees you, he's gonna die. You look so good." Gail ran over to give her friend a hug. "Just wait until he sees you. And the rest of them. Adam's going to freak."

For the next couple of hours, Katrina and Gail spent their time with make-up, one of Kat's least favorite things in the world. She had had a duel with some of her mother's mascara when she was little and hadn't liked anything of the kind ever since.

"I feel like a clown," she said at one point when Gail was applying eye shadow.

"You know how you would look like an idiot?" Gail countered. "Not wearing make-up when you go on a date. I'm just trying to help you out, Kat."

"Fine," muttered Katrina and relented to Gail and her plans.

**x-X-x**

Time was passing and Katrina was pacing the floor of her hotel room. Gail, Adam, Jay, and Chris were all sitting down on the bed, the guys still staring in awe of their friend. They had been doing as such ever since they walked into the room.

"Did he tell you when he was coming, Kat?" Gail asked, being the only one who wasn't speechless.

"Um…You know, I cannot remember for the life of me."

Just as the words left her mouth, a knock sounded at the door.

"Don't you dare answer it, Katrina!" Gail nearly shouted. "Let one of the guys do it." She glared at them until Adam got up silently and went over to the door.

After opening the door, he saw Phil standing in front of him. "Hello," Adam said, trying to be as kind as he could be.

"Hey," Phil said back. "Katrina in there?"

"Uh-huh. Come in." Adam opened the door wider, allowing Phil to walk in. He didn't want to be accommodating but he felt it was his duty. He owed it to Kat. "Company is here," he said.

"We all know that, Adam," said Katrina, walking closer to the door. She saw Phil, standing before her in a black button down shirt, his tattoos hidden. "Hi, Phil."

"Hello, Katrina," he barely got out. He was too busy staring at her. He had never seen someone so beautiful. "Are…Are you ready to go?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yep. I just have to get my purse and then we can leave." She walked over to the bed and picked up her purse while Adam was saying something to Phil. She tried not to listen, for she didn't want to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help herself.

"You better be careful, Phil," she heard Adam say. "Or you're going to have to answer to us. Don't hurt her." The threat in his tone was clear.

Phil did his best to not look intimidated. "I wouldn't dream of hurting her."

"All right then." Adam went back to sit on the bed.

Katrina, worried about how Phil would feel now, cautiously walked to him. "Okay, I'm ready to go now."

A smile playing on his lips, Phil took her hand in his. "Good. Let's go then."

With a glance behind her at her friends—and a glare at Adam for the threat—Katrina let Phil lead her out the door. Closing it behind her, she could help but feel worried. What was Adam so anxious about? What did he think would happen to her? And why weren't Jay and Chris that worried? Was there something that Adam knew that they didn't? _No_, Kat thought to herself. _He would tell me if there was something up. Wouldn't he?_

"Something on your mind?" Phil asked out of nowhere, wondering about the expression on Katrina's face.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just nothing. I'm only thinking," she replied, hoping Phil wouldn't push the issue. _What am I thinking? There is no issue._

Katrina tried battling her thoughts as Phil continued to look at her, a curious look upon his face. There was nothing wrong, she had said. But he knew that there was something. She looked to troubled, like she was arguing with herself.

They continued to walk, and as they left the building, Katrina had finally decided that there was nothing to worry about. Everything was going to be fine as far as she was concerned, and if something went wrong, Adam was just a phone call away. She was going to be fine. Her night would not be ruined by her pretend qualms.

This was going to be interesting.

**So there it is. Sorry if it's kind of short. Remember those one-shots that I told you guys about? Well, I'm hoping to post some real soon. I have two written, I just need to get them typed. I'm thinking I'll put them all into one story, just have a collection of them. So, anyway, I would love it if you leave a review and tell me what you think, good or bad. I appreciate the feedback. :)**

**Oh, and since Christmas is coming up, if you want, I will write a one-shot for you as a present. As long as it's in a fandom I'm quite familiar with, I'll do it. :)**

**Happy belated Thanksgiving!  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Um, hey, how's it goin'? Long time, no see, eh? Sorry about that, by the way. I haven't felt right. Maybe lately things will go better though. Fingers crossed…So if you want to yell at me, I'll gladly take it. I just really want to thank you all (if you're still out there) for reading.**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine…**

_Adam's worrying for no reason,_ Katrina kept thinking to herself. _He's always been like this. Ever since…_

Even in her thoughts she couldn't mention that awful night. Or she tried not to anyway. Adam had been extremely protective of her since then, taking on the role of her guardian. He didn't have to, of course. She still had her mother, her brother, and her sister, not to mention all of her uncles who were also wrestlers. But that didn't stop Adam from watching out for her. Sometimes, she was thankful for that—him being so persistent—while other times she thought he was a pain.

_But why was Adam so wary tonight?_

"Kat? Katrina? You okay?"

She distantly heard Phil calling her name, even though he was standing right next to her. The next thing she knew, he was waving his hand in front of her face. Katrina shook her head, trying desperately to clear it. "Um, yeah."

"Good," he sighed, relief coming through. "I was afraid you were having a seizure or something. You just had this blank look on your face." He turned to look at her, eyes serious. "Are you positive you're all right?"

Quickly—maybe too quickly—she nodded at him. "Yes," she said in a hurry. "I'm good. I was just…thinking."

Concern was clearly on Phil's face when he said, "You've been doing that a lot tonight. You sure you want to do this?"

This, Katrina suspected, was to try and have a relationship with him. She was not sure if she could handle it or if she'd be that good at it, but gazing at Phil, she knew one thing. "Yes, Phil, I'm sure."

_She was willing to try…_

She tightly clasped his hand in hers and they walked into the restaurant that Phil had picked for them.

In the establishment, Katrina took in her surroundings. It wasn't the most fancy of places but at the same time, it was more elegant a place than you would expect from a guy covered in tattoos.

And besides, if Katrina was being honest with herself, she would have to admit that despite the fact that she used to tell herself she would never even consider dating a guy with that much ink, she did find it quite attractive on Phil.

Just the thought made her blush a little and, of course, Phil noticed it.

"Looking a little pink, are we, Miss Hart?" he teased.

At his statement, Katrina blushed a bit more and muttered, "I don't know what you're talking about."

He just chuckled at her, getting led to a table right afterward. Waiting for her to take a seat before him, Phil grinned at Katrina. "After you, Miss Hart," he said with a little bow.

Katrina let out a tiny giggle and then sat down. "Miss Hart?" she wondered. "Is that what you're gonna call me all evening?"

Phil looked at her, his face solemn. "Why, yes, of course. Is there a reason you asked?"

She could easily tell he was joking so she just smiled even wider. _Why was I worrying earlier? _she thought to herself. "The reason," she said, "is because it makes me feel like some weird teacher. And I do not want to be a teacher of any sorts."

Phil leaned back in his seat and put his hands together. "Oh? Care to elaborate on that one?" He said it with a smirk but in his eyes, Katrina could see the curiosity. She didn't really want to tell him what her real reason was, but at the same time, she didn't want to be dishonest with him from the get-go.

Taking a deep breath, she began. "My father…He—he wanted to be a teacher. Sometimes, I think that's what he really wanted me to do. He didn't talk much about it though so I could never be sure. But…I think he did." She stopped talking and sneaked a glance at Phil, who just sat there, quiet. Still looking at him, she continued. "I think I would have done that too. I didn't really want that though. Hell, I didn't want _this._ It was just expected of me. I try not to think about teaching 'cause I think Dad may be disappointed that I didn't do it."

There was a long pause. Finally, Phil spoke. "I see…And what do you really want to do, Katrina?"

Gazing at him for a moment, Katrina tried not to think about how Phil had the ability to make her spill her guts to him, something she couldn't always do with Adam, Jay, Chris, or any of her family. When she answered, her response made her cringe, made her feel useless. "I…I don't really know."

Phil's expression surprised her. She had expected him to look confused, to feel the way she did—or thought she did anyway. But he didn't. He regarded her with a sad smile and his eyes softened. "There's nothing wrong with that at all," he told her. Then, he said, "We can change the subject if you want, Kat."

"Yeah," she whispered. "I think I'd like that."

Before Phil or Katrina could say anymore, a server finally made her way around to their table. They ordered their dinner and as the waitress left, Phil stared intently at Kat.

Katrina looked back, feeling a tad uneasy. "Um," she said. "You do know that what you're doing is rude, right?"

"And what is it that I'm doing, huh?" he asked.

"You're, uh, staring at me," answered Katrina. "And staring's rude, didn't your mother tell you that?"

"Nope," he said right away. "But she did always tell me to stop eating so many cookies…"

Raising her eyebrows at him, Katrina said, "What are you talking about?" He was confusing her completely and she wondered if he was doing it on purpose.

He shook his head and waved his hand. "I'll explain, just hold on." As he was about to continue, the waitress was back, setting their food on the table. She asked if they wanted anything else, and Phil answered for them both, saying no. When she was gone, Phil abruptly asked, "Have you ever been curious about what CM stands for?"

"Um, sure, I guess. It's not like it's something that clouds my mind," she answered truthfully. "That's not who you are to me."

"I'm gonna hope that that's supposed to be taken in a good way, and not that I suck in real life." Katrina was about to protest, but Phil held out a hand to stop her. "Anyway, I get asked what it means a lot and I usually give all kinds of answers for it. It started off as something for a gimmick but then I realized what it really must stand for."

"So…what's your point?" Katrina asked.

He sighed. "I'm getting there, just be patient. When I was little, I was kinda obsessed with eating every cookie in sight. My mom, she used to always yell at me and called me the Cookie Monster. You know, like on _Sesame Street_. You had that in Canada, right?"

"No," said Katrina, sarcasm strong in her voice. "We had nothing that you powerful Americans have."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Phil agreed, chuckling a little. "But that's what I now think CM has always stood for. Cookie Monster."

"Cookie Monster," Katrina repeated. "Does that mean I can call you that now?"

"No, never," he answered immediately. "I like it just fine when you call me Phil. Not too many people do that." He laughed but it was somewhat humorless. "They all just call me Punk, actually."

"So you want people to call you Phil?" Katrina tried to get it straight.

He seemed to ponder this for a minute. "Not necessarily," he said. "I just know that I want you to call me Phil. I don't know how I'd feel if others would."

"Serena does," Katrina muttered very quietly.

Phil's head shot up. "Hm?" he queried, barely hearing her. "What was that?"

"I said," Katrina began with an annoyed tone, "that Serena calls you Phil."

At her statement, Phil scoffed. "Yeah, and what's-his-face Barrett calls you Katrina."

"Yeah, but I don't hang out with him," Katrina defended. "He's just gotten in my face. I've seen you and Serena together. You guys work with each other. She's always around you."

"I work with you, too," Phil pointed out. "But you're right. She is always around me. But _I'm_ never the one initiating it. Sometimes…" He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sometimes, it just feels like she's after me or something. Like she wants something from me, really wants something. But I have no clue what that is."

"I get what you mean, I think," she said. "I'm guessing you'd like to change the subject now? If I were you, I would."

"Okay," said Phil, an easy smile now on his face. "Ask me anything you want and I'll answer."

"Um, all right." Thinking hard over her question, she finally came up with one, wondering if they'd talked about it before. "Did you always want to be a wrestler?"

"You know, I think I pretty much always did. I used to watch it growing up. Shawn Michaels, British Bulldog, your uncle, your dad even. All those guys were just amazing…I grew up during the best time for that. It was right when the smaller guys were getting popular. Didn't have to be Hulk Hogan anymore. You could just…I don't know, be yourself. So yeah, it's what I always wanted to do. I'm basically living my dream right now.

Nodding, Katrina said to him with a smile, "You're very lucky then. But I have another question for you, Phil."

"Shoot," he replied, shrugging.

"You're not just friends with me…because of my family, are you? Or my friends, right?" She couldn't look at him as she asked this or after the words left her mouth.

"What?" he asked, sounding a little horrified. His eyes were wide, his mouth open. "Did you seriously just ask me that?"

"Well, yeah, Phil. I gotta know."

He was gazing at her, trying to decipher why she would ask him such a question. She was waiting on an answer and he was determined to give her one. "No," he said. "Just…no. You, uh, probably don't know this but I saw you a long while ago. It was before you were really working there but I saw you. I had just gotten my contract signed and I was hanging out around the arena. It was a Raw show so Adam was there. But he was getting ready for some match and he was hanging out with Lita."

Katrina winced at the name, remembering all too well the damage that Adam's relationship with the former Diva had done to him. He never talked about it but something told Katrina that Adam had his one real love but he lost it.

Phil kept talking. "So I was backstage and I just so happened to look to my right and sitting in the corner in one of those stupid steel chairs was this blonde girl." He looked up, gauging Kat's reaction. She was just sitting still. He went on. "She looked out of place, very uncomfortable. I didn't know who she was but from where I was standing, I could tell that she was beautiful. I was going to go over to her, introduce myself. For some reason, I felt that I had to get to know her. But then, Matt Hardy walked over to her, pulling her to her feet, saying something to her, making her laugh. I thought I missed my chance." He took a deep breath. "Then, they were gone. I made a mental note to find Jeff later, ask him who that girl was. I did, I asked him." Phil gazed at Katrina again, who now had wide eyes herself, eyes that looked as if they were about to overflow.

"It was me," she was barely able to choke out. "I remember that. Matt had told me that some guy was asking about me. He said it was some new guy, that he didn't know him. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about. That was you." She closed her eyes for a moment. "God, why didn't he ever tell me it was you? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

He shrugged. "I don't really know," he said honestly. "I have no idea. But I'm glad I finally did."

"Yeah," she said. "I'm glad you did too." She tried to smile at him but it was hard. At least five years earlier, he had thought she was beautiful. He had never met her, didn't know who she was, who her family was…but still, he wanted to know her.

Phil moved a little closer to her. "Do you believe me now?" he asked softly. "You know that I don't talk to you because of your dad or anyone, right? That fact usually slips my mind."

Katrina merely nodded, for fear she could not speak. She did, however, grab Phil's hand, lacing her fingers through his. She leaned into his side and rested her head on his shoulder. She felt Phil pulling away from her and she got worried. She glanced up at him, realizing that his face was just inches from hers.

Phil was looking at her, really looking at her, and Katrina was doing the same to him. Before she knew it, they were no more inches away, just a centimeter…then even less…then right there.

She didn't know who made the first move but she knew the move was made the moment his lips were on hers. They were soft and she didn't even mind the facial hair or the lip ring. Really, those factors hadn't really occurred to her at all. All she could think about was how good it felt to finally get this out of the way, to finally feel what it would be like for him to kiss her.

And she had to admit that it felt pretty good.

**Ta-da! So that's what? Chapter nine?**

**I didn't make the teacher thing up. I've read before that Owen was going to retire from WWE and go back to school to be a teacher. Granted, it could very well be untrue but I'm not purposely lying to you or anything. And the Cookie Monster thing, too. I read that one somewhere also.**

**So I'm sure you guys are kinda mad 'cause I took forever to update—I checked by the way, it's been over two months—and I will completely understand if you want to cause me bodily harm…But before you do that, if you could just leave me a little review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. Even if you're telling me how much you hate me, my curiosity is getting the best of me. So please, please review. :)**

**Oh, and happy early Valentine's Day to you all! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So I've got the writing bug again…or it might just be the wrestling bug but they go together. Either way, I'm really into both right now so I'm writing as much as I can, especially for this story. I just realized how much I love this one and I wanna make it extra good. So thanks for the reviews, favorites, and subscriptions. They make my day. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)**

**Warning: This chapter is short...  
**

**Disclaimer: Do you recognize it? Then it's not mine. Except Katrina, for I have complete control over her.**

Katrina found herself lost in her kiss with Phil. She couldn't explain why. There was just something about him, about the way he felt. It all just felt…right. It felt more right than she remembered it feeling with any of her ex-boyfriends, and Phil wasn't even what her type usually was. But he was so different and for some reason, that made it seem natural for Katrina.

Finally, when the kiss broke, Phil stared intently in her eyes, not looking away. "You know," he said, his voice low. "I don't wanna sound creepy or cheesy or anything…but I really have been waiting a long while to do that."

Katrina found herself not being able to look away from him. She chuckled at him. "Yeah, I imagine. I mean, apparently you've been waiting five years to do that."

"Well," he hedged. "Yeah, kinda. But don't say it like that. It makes me seem like such a freak."

Placing a quick kiss on Phil's lips, Katrina took him by surprise. She leaned back and said, "If it makes you feel any better, I was always wondering who the guy Matt told me about was."

"So you've been curious about me too, huh?" Phil asked, a smile playing on his face.

"Yeah, you could say that." Katrina kept smiling. She couldn't control herself but she didn't care enough to wonder why. Instead of thinking, she lightly kissed Phil once more.

**x-X-x**

_All good things must come to an end_, Katrina thought as she and Phil left the restraint sometime later. She figured that if she didn't go back to the hotel room soon, Adam would find some way to pester her.

"It was a good night, right?" Phil asked when they reached Kat's room.

With her back up against the door, not wanting to go inside, Katrina nodded. "Yeah, really fun. I learned a lot tonight," she replied with a wink. She was speaking quietly, for she didn't want Adam or Gail or any of her other friends to come out.

"Me too," Phil said, leaning closer.

That's when they both heard it, a door unlocking, then opening. They jumped back, startled, upon hearing a certain someone's voice.

"I hear you guys," Adam said, looking sternly at the two of them. "You ever think people are sleeping? You're so inconsiderate, Kitty Kat." A hard glare was pointed towards Phil. "Punk."

"Adam," Phil said with a nod.

Katrina sighed and shook her head. "Addie, quit being ridiculous. I already know that you weren't sleeping. Probably doing Foo Fighters karaoke to pass the time until I came back. Idiot," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Adam said quickly.

"Just don't worry about," Kat said. "If you want me to come inside, I will be glad to do. But let me say good-bye to Phil. Without you here."

"But—"

"I said without you here, Adam."

Narrowing his eyes at Katrina, he let out a loud, annoyed exhale. "Fine. But in two minutes, I'm coming back out here, you hear me?" he said, wagging his finger at her. He was closing the door as he said, "The two minutes are starting right now."

The door shut and Katrina looked relieved. "Thank goodness he's gone." She turned to Phil. "Sorry about that. He's kinda…"

"Protective?" Phil guessed.

"I was going more for flat out rude," she replied. "But protective could work too." She smiled at him. "I've just gotten used to it lately. He can be a bit overbearing though."

Phil put his hands together and said, "Nah. He just loves you."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to act like that." Katrina didn't feel like defending Adam. She was kind of mad at him. What right did he have looking at Phil like he wanted to kill him? What had Phil ever really done to him? She already knew that he had no real reason for his actions.

Phil's voice brought her away from her thoughts. "I think our two minutes are pretty much up now so I'm gonna have to say bye."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I guess so." She began tilting her head up toward Phil's. But then she felt the door opening up and pushing against her back. Groaning quietly, she pulled away.

"Time's up," Adam said, poking his head out the doorway. "Two minutes have passed. Get in here, Kat." His voice held a sense of authority and Katrina wasn't in the mood for obeying that authority.

Before she could really react, Phil was backing away. "I'll see you later, okay, Kat?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you soon."

"All right." He looked behind Katrina, by the door. "Bye, Adam."

"Good night, Punk," he replied, his mouth set in a tight line. He grabbed Kat by the wrist and pulled her into the room. "What was that about?" he asked when he shut the door again. "What are you doing?"

Katrina looked honestly confused. "What are you talking about? What do you think I'm doing?"

Adam avoided her questions. "You're being irresponsible. You can't just get with Punk and expect everything to stay the same. Or have you just gone crazy or gotten brainwashed or something?"

"Excuse me?" she said, anger in her voice. "What is with you lately? You can't just tell me what I should be doing. You're so not the boss of me. So why don't' you tell me what _your _problem is? 'Cause I don't believe I have one."

Pulling at his hair, Adam looked as if he was going to explode. Instead, he took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down. "I don't have a problem either, Katrina. We've gone over this before, remember? It's my job to make sure you're not hurt, to make sure nothing happens to you. You know that."

"Well, maybe I'm sick of it," fired back Katrina. "Maybe I want to be able to live my life without you constantly watching over me."

"See, this isn't you, Kat," said Adam. "You would've never been saying this stuff a few months ago. You meet Punk and then everything changes. I sometimes wonder if I even know you anymore."

"Phil," she said in a soft voice.

"What did you say?"

"His name is Phil, not Punk," Katrina told him, giving him a cold glare. "You don't have to keep calling him Punk. No one calls you Edge or Jay Christian. Call him Phil."

Adam gave a shake of his head and said, "If I want to call him Punk, I will call him Punk."

"And if I wanna go out with _Phil _again, then I will. You can't stop me." To say the least, Katrina was furious.

"Kat," he said, trying to soften his tone. "You know I'm just looking out for you. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that until you get it."

Sighing loudly, Katrina gave Adam a look. She didn't want to be angry with him, not really. They had been best friends for years and she wasn't in the mood to compromise that fact. "Addie," she said with a shake of her head. "I know what you're trying to do, okay? I get it. I…I just want to be able to do what I want. I'm not a little kid anymore." She sat down on the sofa in the room and patted the spot next to her, signaling she wanted him to take a seat too.

Adam closed his eyes for a moment and then sat beside her, lifting her hand and clutching it. "Am I really that bad?" he wondered aloud. He didn't look at Katrina's face, instead just played with her fingers.

Chuckling a bit, Kat answered honestly. "Yeah, yeah, you kind of are that bad." She watched as Adam's face fell. "But," she continued, "I do know that you mean well. It's just that I wish you could give me some room sometimes."

Finally looking up at her, Adam met Katrina's eyes. "I can try to do that, Kitty Kat."

She smiled. "All right. Then that's all I'm gonna ask for, Adam. For right now anyway." She held out a pinky finger toward him. "Still bestest buddies?"

Before he could stop himself, Adam began laughing loudly, finally shutting up when Katrina shot him a cold glare. Once he sobered up from his laughing fit, he looked at the pinky again and grinned. Lifting his own pinky finger to hers and entwining them together, he said, "We're still bestest buddies, Kat. Now, can I brag to Chris since you finally admitted that I'm the best friend?"

**So I usually don't update that quickly so you guys should feel lucky. I wrote most of this while watching the Grammys—Bob Dylan specifically. I don't really know if I like it yet though. Wanna let me know what you all think of it? Reviews make my day, good or bad. :) **

**Oh, and you'll be getting a couple more updates from me 'cause I went back and edited a couple of chapters. Nothing major, just a bit. :)**

**And one more thing: Did you guys see Raw? If you didn't see it, SHAME ON YOU! I'm still freaking out!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'm getting good at this. Quick updates. It's odd…My other stories are on hiatus, I guess, and I'm making the mistake of starting another one. I've posted it already. It's a Wade Barrett story,**_** So Mystifying**_**, so…I don't know.**

**Anyway, seriously, people, leave me a review, telling me what you think, good or bad. I really need to know if I have to make some improvements. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OC, who I personally think can be pretty awesome sometimes.**

"So," Gail said after plopping down on the bed. "Tell me all the details and don't you dare keep any to yourself!"

Katrina sighed. It had only been a few minutes earlier that she was recounting the whole night in her head. Then, Gail had come bursting through the door, not wasting a minute. Running her hands through her hair—a habit she learned from Adam—Katrina sat down next to her friend. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything!" she shouted. "I want to know everything!" Just then, as if someone was really looking over Katrina, Gail's cell phone rang. "Don't think that this is over," she hissed before taking it out of her pocket and walking out into the hallway.

Pleased to finally be alone if only for a few minutes, Katrina smiled to herself. She stretched on the bed, wondering how long Gail would be gone. Putting her hands behind her head, she closed her eyes.

However, Katrina was still unable to catch a break, for her phone began to ring as well. "Oh, how lovely," she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster. She picked it up, not bothering to see who was calling, and answered it. "Hello," she said, hoping her annoyance made it to the person on the other end.

"I kinda expected you to be a bit happier to hear from me but I guess I was wrong," Phil's voice said through the phone. "Oh, well, I guess there's a first time for everything."

"Phil!" she said a bit too loudly and enthusiastically.

"Katrina!" said Phil in a similar voice, mocking her a little. He chuckled slightly. "So how are you? You didn't murder Adam or anything, did you?"

"No," she replied.

"You sound like you regret not doing it."

"Maybe I do."

Phil laughed again. "Don't lay a hand on him. I wouldn't put it past him to file a lawsuit."

Katrina smirked. "I'm his best friend, idiot. He would never do that. And besides, if what I planned on doing to him would've happened, he would be in no condition to be going to a lawyer."

"Evil."

"I prefer 'cunning,'" Katrina responded with a smile. She wondered if Phil could tell that she was grinning through the phone. She hoped he could.

"Okay, so you like cunning. I'm still gonna go with evil so deal with it." There was a short pause. "Hey, uh, the reason I was calling—"

"Was not just because you wanted to know how I am?" interrupted Katrina.

"How are you, Katrina?"

"Quite all right, Phillip," she said. "Now continue with what you were saying."

"Huh? Oh, right, yeah. So the reason I was calling was to—"

"Katrina!" Gail shouted, making her way back into the room. "You'll never guess who that—Oh, you're on the phone," she said when she actually looked at Kat. "Sorry, I'll just go back outside then." Before Kat could say anything, Gail was gone.

Sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, Katrina took a deep breath. "Okay. The reason you were calling is…" She trailed off, waiting for him to continue.

"All right," Phil said. "The reason I'm calling is to ask you…if you had any plans for tonight. 'Cause if you don't, I would love to take you out again or do something. Anything."

Katrina didn't even have to think about it. Instantly, she said, "Yeah, of course."

"Really?" Phil said, somewhat in disbelief.

Rolling her eyes, Katrina pushed the phone closer to her ear. "Well, yeah. I mean, what did you think I was going to say?"

"Honestly, I didn't know. You are evil, remember?"

"No," said Katrina. "I'm not evil…just cunning."

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Phil said, then laughed once more. "So, uh, I'll call you to tell you when I'm picking you up and stuff. 'Cause honestly, I don't have anything planned."

Katrina giggled herself. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey!" Phil mock protested. "I am perfectly capable of planning things."

"Uh-huh, sure you are…So you have no idea where we're going at all?"

"Nope."

"Lovely. So what am I supposed to wear?"

Phil thought for a moment. "Uh…What are you wearing right now?"

Katrina looked down at herself. If he thought she was wearing bunny slippers, a ripped shirt, and really short shorts to wherever they were going, he was out of his mind. "Nothing I would ever wear in public."

"Okay. But I'm sure you don't look _that_ bad."

"I hope you're not a betting man, Phil, 'cause you would probably lose that one."

"I don't bet so I guess I'm in luck…according to you anyway. I still think you probably look beautiful." Neither of them spoke for a few seconds until Phil broke the silence. "You better get going. That was Gail I heard earlier, right? She probably doesn't want you making her wait."

"Yeah," Katrina agreed reluctantly. "Probably not. But I'll talk to you soon, right?"

Phil wasted no time responding. "Definitely. It'll be much sooner than you think."

"Okay. Well…Bye, Phil."

"Bye, Kat."

They both hung up and Katrina got up from the bed. She went over to open the door and, when she did, found Gail sitting on the floor right outside.

"Who were you talking to?" Gail demanded, standing up.

"Me? What about you? Who was calling _you_?"

Gail put her foot down. "I asked you first. Now let me in. I'm not standing out here all day." She lightly shoved Katrina over to get in the doorway. "Spill, who was it?"

"Phil," Katrina answered immediately.

"So the date must have gone really well then, huh?" Gail wondered. "Don't answer that, I already know the answer. But I have another question. You guys didn't…do anything, did you?"

For a moment, Katrina didn't know what Gail was talking about but right away, realization hit her. "What? No! I didn't sleep with him! God, Gail, what kind of girl do you think I am?"

"Well…"

"It was our first date." Kat was outraged. This was her best friend telling her this, after all.

"Oh, please," said Gail. "You guys have been going in circles around each other for weeks. To be honest, we all thought that you would've gotten together long ago. Maybe if Phil had manned up sooner…"

"Gail!"

"What? Even Jay said something a while back."

"Oh," Katrina groaned. "Please tell me you're joking." She caught the look on Gail's face which told her that there was no joke. "Great. That's just great."

"Hon, trust me, this is not a bad thing. It's really wonderful. You've been so happy lately. A different kind of happy."

Katrina just shook her head.

"I'm being serious, "Gail insisted. "Adam says he hasn't seen you like this since before your dad died."

"If you say so…"

"I do."

"Whatever." Katrina didn't really want to hear this. "So," she said, planning on changing the subject. "Who were you on the phone with?"

The previous topic forgotten for the moment, Gail blushed. "Matt," she said, referring to Evan Bourne. For the next hour or so, she proceeded to gush about him and how they were planning on going on a date that night.

**x-X-x**

A couple hours had passed and by then, Katrina had already gotten a call from Phil. He told her she should just dress comfortable, casual, and everything would be all right. "No need to get dressed up," he had said. He also told her to meet him in the lobby at seven-thirty.

Dressed in an old-school Hart Foundation t-shirt and ripped jeans, at seven-twenty, Katrina headed out of her room, her purse in her hand.

As she walked down the steps to get downstairs, she heard a voice.

"Come on, you know you want to," it said.

_Serena._

Katrina walked closer to where the voice was. Then she heard another. This one was Phil.

"No," he was saying. "No, I don't."

"Come on," she tried again.

Now, Katrina could see them. Serena was standing in front of Phil, trying her best to be flirtatious but Phil was trying to dodge her advances.

"Serena," Phil said. "You're being ridiculous."

She pouted at him. "I don't think I am." Then she flashed a smile. "I know what'll change your mind."

"What are you talking—"

Phil didn't get to finish, for Serena's mouth was on his in an instant.

But Serena kissing Phil wasn't what Katrina was worrying about, not what made her upset. Instead, as she looked on in horror for a couple seconds, she realized one thing…

_Phil didn't push Serena away._

**Did you like it? Maybe not. That's all right. If you liked it, let me know. If you didn't, tell me why. Honest, I can take it.**

**I'm still having a freak out because—oh, my God—two of my favorite men, Triple H and the Undertaker, are back in WWE! Random fact that you may not wanna know: My first love and crush was Triple H. His nose was attractive to me at one time, it seems… :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: As always, thanks for the reviews, favorites, alerts…I don't think I've said this yet, but on my profile, I've put a visual for Katrina. It's kind of how I see her so you can check that out if you want. Oh, and this chapter's kind of shorter so, just sayin'. And sorry for the update being kinda late but FanFiction hasn't been working right for me. But I got it now. :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I've said it before but I'll say it again: I own nothing except for my OC, Katrina. It's terrible, isn't it? I'm trying not to cry over the fact…**

Seconds ticked by, and Katrina couldn't breathe. What was happening? How could Phil do this to her? After all that he had said the evening earlier, he turns around and does this. Someone must have been playing a cruel trick on her. It must have been a joke.

But Katrina wasn't laughing.

She was spacing out. Her vision was being blurred so she couldn't make out what was happening anymore. Her hearing wasn't the same as it had been. She hadn't felt like this since over ten years prior and though that was much more serious, this cut her just as deep.

Her breathing was becoming shallower. The walls were closing in on her. Katrina felt herself spinning…or maybe it was everything around her. She didn't know anymore. What she did know was that she couldn't stand there any longer so she charged back in the direction she came from, bumping into someone.

"Hey!" the voice shouted.

Katrina thought her night couldn't get worse. That English accent was unmistakable. And to think, she had assumed that Vince had been able to solve whatever issue WWE's Wade Barrett had with her.

She turned around quickly—much too quickly—and felt herself swaying. "Stu," she said quietly, using his real name. "I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…run into you."

Stu stared at her for a moment, his angry expression fading into alarm. They might have had a major argument before but he did have some manners. "It's all right. But are you okay? You're not looking so good."

"I'm fi—" she began but before she could finish, she felt too dizzy and wobbled a little more, showing more signs of lightheadedness. "Fine," she finished.

Stu looked at her intently. "No, no, you're not. You look like you're gonna bloody faint." He paused. "Um, would you like me to help you to your room or something?"

Katrina didn't respond. She was pretty much out of it and when she fell forward, Stu had no choice but to catch her.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm definitely helping you to your room." He was definitely uncomfortable, given their previous issues, but he couldn't not help her and keep a good conscious. Therefore, he lightly took her wrist in his hand and tried to lead her back up the steps.

"I can go on my own," she tried protesting but her attempt was weak. She knew herself that she couldn't really move. She felt woozy, dizzy. She felt sick to her stomach, physically ill. So she let Stu slightly drag her back to her room.

When they arrived there, Stu propped Katrina up a bit so he could knock on the door after asking if someone else would be in there. Kat had told him Gail was most likely still there.

The door opened after a couple knocks and there Gail was, staring at Stu, openmouthed. "What are _you _doing here?" she wondered, not letting her disdain stay hidden. Stu turned his head to his right and Gail followed his gaze. Upon seeing Katrina, she exclaimed, "Oh, my god! Kat, what happened to you?" She turned back to Stu. "What did you do to her?"

He held his hands up in a defensive way. "Nothing. I didn't do anything. She wasn't looking good so I told her I'd help her to her room, that's it, I swear."

Gail narrowed her eyes a bit more, then looked at Katrina for confirmation. Kat nodded. But Gail was still confused. "Wait a sec. Why didn't Phil bring you back if you were that bad? Where is he?"

Pushing herself off of the wall, Katrina tried to smile at her friend. She turned to look at Stu for a moment. "Thank you for helping me," she said.

"No problem," he replied and stood awkwardly for a moment before turning around and leaving.

Gail, even more suspicious than before, shuffled to get Katrina in their room. Once she did, and had her sitting on one of the beds, she stared at her. "Now, tell me what happened tonight."

Katrina sighed and then took a deep breath to calm herself before launching into the story about finding Serena kissing Phil—Gail's response was "What a whore"—and then about how Phil didn't push her away or anything—this time, Gail said Phil was a scumbag. She then told Gail how she ran into Stu and that, as he had already said, helped her out.

"That was what happened," Kat said, her voice quivering a tiny bit. She was still feeling a little funny but definitely better now that she was with Gail.

"Huh…" was all Gail could come up with. "But…why? What happened? What could Serena have said to him?"

"I don't know, Gail, and I really don't want to talk about it right now," Katrina told her.

"Adam's gonna kill him now," Gail said, shaking her head sadly. "That's too bad, I always thought Phil was pretty nice…"

"No!" shouted Katrina.

Gail was even more confused than before and gave Kat a quizzical look. "No? What do you mean, 'no'?"

Groaning, Katrina said, "I mean, no, Adam's not going to kill him because Adam's not going to know about it. I mean, I haven't even gotten Phil's side of this thing yet. I…I don't know what happened, like you said. We can't just go jumping into conclusions."

"I don't care if it is a conclusion or not, Adam's gonna murder that poor man."

"But he doesn't have to know," claimed Katrina. "If he doesn't know about it, how is he going to kill him, hmm?"

Gail rolled her eyes. "You know Ad will find out one way or another. That guy has his ways. No one knows how he figures anything out. He's sneaky or has spies or something. He's crazy."

"I know he is, but—"

"There can't be any buts, Kat," interrupted Gail. "He finds out eventually. You should know that more than anybody. You've been around him a lot longer than I have.

"But can't you just…not tell him for a while? For me? Please?" Katrina asked, pouting.

Sighing, Gail sat down on the bed next to Katrina. "_I _won't tell him…for you."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," Katrina squealed, throwing her arms around Gail lightly so she wouldn't get dizzy again. She squeezed her as tightly as she could before letting go, seeing Gail's stern face.

"However," Gail began. "That does not mean that Adam will not find out. I'm not telling him anything because you asked. Now, are you planning on asking everybody on the roster? Anyone who was down in the lobby?"

Katrina shook her head slowly, sadly. "No…"

"That's what I thought," said Gail. "So if Adam does find out, you know that it's not my fault. I promise I won't say anything. I do believe though that sometime soon, we will be hearing about the murder of a wrestler at the hands of another wrestler. The first being Phil, the second being Adam." Gail looked off in the distance for a brief time. "You know who might tell him?"

"Who?" Katrina asked eagerly. She wanted to know what Gail was thinking.

"That Stu who helped you. I don't know if he should be trusted."

"But he helped me."

Gail exhaled loudly. "That might be the point. You had a problem with him before, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, he might tell Adam just to get back at you. Guys like him, Kat, they're conniving. Just one look at him and you have to be able to see that. It's obvious." She shrugged. "But maybe I'm wrong. It's happened before. Not very often, but it has. Just…be on guard, Kat. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kat said, feeling a little off once again. "Yeah, I understand."

At the same time, however, Katrina was sick of being on guard, staying safe, being protected…

**Let's get this straight: There will be NO romance between Kat and Stu. I have other plans for Stu in another story and it does not involve anything like that with Katrina. **

**What are you guys thinking about WWE bringing back all these legends: The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker, Trish Stratus, JBL, Stone Cold? I think it's great. It reminds me of when I first started watching it. I feel nostalgic. :)**

**As always, I really hope you enjoyed and, if you wanna help me be calm, please, please, please leave a review. It only takes a minute to say whether it was good or awful. Seriously, I can take whatever you have to say…hopefully…**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey there, hi there. It's kinda been a little while, yeah? School got in the way and frustrated me a lot, but I'm out now! So hopefully, I'll be able to write more often. :) Woo-hoo! :D**

**This chapter takes more of a look into Phil's mind. You know, just to get his side of some things.**

**Disclaimer: If you can recognize it, then it's not mine. My OC, on the other hand, most definitely belongs to me.**

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Phil shouted when he finally managed to get Serena off of him.

She stared at him for a moment. "Are you stupid? I think it's pretty obvious."

"I think you know what I'm really asking." Phil's tone was cold, serious.

Serena couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Oh, my God, Phil," she said, throwing her hands in the air. "You have got to be kidding me."

Phil's eyes widened and his nostrils flared. "Does it look like I'm joking? Does it sound like I'm just messing around? That this is a big joke?" he angrily asked. When Serena didn't answer, he got louder. "Does it?"

Taken aback by Phil's aggressiveness, Serena was nearly stunned to silence. Very meekly, she looked into his eyes and whispered, "No, it doesn't."

"Then why?" he asked. "Why did you do that? What was the point? Huh? Why must you have to sabotage what I have with Kat?" Phil wanted answers and he wanted them right then.

Serena cringed. "Oh, she has a nickname now? Seriously, Phil, how long are you gonna keep this little charade up?"

Phil blinked. "What?"

"Oh, don't act like you don't know," said Serena.

Phil's eyes went up to the ceiling. "I swear to God," he muttered. "What the hell are you talking about? What charade?"

Shaking her head, Serena moved a bit closer. "Come on, Phil, we all know what game you're playing. Hang out with one of the company's princesses, get more pull with the top guys. You'll be champion in no time. Then once you are, you drop her. Because what use will this…_Kat,_" she spat the name, "be to you then?"

Phil was speechless. This thought had never occurred to him. Using Katrina to get ahead? Would it be a good idea to get a title shot? Yeah. But that would only be short term. That's not what he wanted. Though he wouldn't just come out and admit it, he was thinking much more long term with Kat, something more permanent.

"What…what makes you think that?" he asked.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Well, why else would you want her? It's not like there's anything special about her. She's not that pretty and she's boring. Not to mention she only hangs out with guys. She's probably sleeping with them all. Not exactly girlfriend material."

"You're wrong."

"Oh? Wrong about what exactly?"

"Everything," he answered. "Everything."

"Please," Serena scoffed. "Enlighten me on how different she is. Tell me how wrong I am."

_I will, _thought Phil. "Saying she's not that pretty is appalling but if I were to say she's pretty, that'd be a disgrace. Katrina's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. You say she's boring but you don't even know her. Maybe she's boring to you 'cause she's shy. She doesn't trust you right away so she doesn't open up. She's not boring, she's kind and funny and like no one else. And she's sleeping with her friends? Maybe they're just close because they've always been there for her."

"You could say that about anyone," Serena replied. "That doesn't mean it's true."

"I would never dream of using her. I love her," murmured Phil softly.

"Ugh," Serena gagged at the word. "Just ew. How could you even connect love to her?"

But Phil wasn't listening. He was already walking away, done with Serena, done with anyone like her.

**x-X-x**

Phil was having a bit of a meltdown. It was bad enough that Serena forced herself on him. What he couldn't believe was how strong she really was. When she grabbed onto him…He couldn't move. _If she doesn't win one of the women's belts, she could definitely go out for one of the guys', _he thought, rubbing the back of his neck.

It also wasn't so good that he had told Serena of all people that he loved Katrina. Not that it wasn't true—the moment he said it, Phil realized just how true it was—he just knew that Serena could try and use that information against him somehow.

But he had another problem on his hands. He hadn't seen Kat.

He was worried, to say the least. Had she forgotten about their date? Had she somehow injured herself? Was Adam being extra protective and not allowing her to come? Or…

Ending his last thought before it could fully form, Phil paced in the lobby. "No," he muttered to himself. "That…no. She couldn't have seen…" He was pulling at his hair and couldn't just stand still.

Out of nowhere, he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped slightly at the touch. He turned around and saw Chris standing there, a bottle of Coke in his hands. "Oh. Um, hey."

"Hey there," Chris said, not really noticing Phil's unease. "So I have some bad news."

"Okay…" said Phil nervously. "What is it?"

"You and Kat had some kind of date, right?" Chris asked. He knew the answer, he just wanted to ask.

"Uh-huh." Phil was trying not to let the freak-out happening inside of him show on his face. But he felt he wasn't doing a good job at hiding his inner turmoil.

Putting his hands together, Chris continued. "Well, Gail told me to tell you that Kat told her that she wasn't feeling well and was in no mood to go anywhere."

"She couldn't call or anything?"

"You should know how she is by now," Chris answered with a smirk. "As smart as she is sometimes, she's awful with common sense. Making me search for you instead of using a telephone." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But hopefully she'll be better soon."

"Yeah, yeah," said Phil absentmindedly as he attempted to collect his thoughts. "Um, are you going to see her later tonight or…?"

Chris hadn't really been paying attention. He was much more focused on the cap in his hands from his bottle.

"Ahem," Phil cleared his throat and waited for Chris to look at him.

"Oh, uh, sorry. What was that?"

"I asked you if you would be seeing Katrina later on," answered Phil, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

Chris scratched his chin. "Right. I knew that's what you said, I was just testing you." He nodded. "But yeah, I should be. Why? Is there anything you want me to tell her?"

Phil looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "Well, could you just tell her that I hope she feels a lot better as soon as possible?"

"Sure, no problem," said Chris. He looked at Phil—_really _looked at him then. "You, uh, you really like Kat, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes," Phil responded, barely surprised that he did not hesitate when Chris asked.

Nodding, Chris said, "That's what I thought. That's probably why Adam can't stand you," he muttered.

Now, Phil was surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Oh," Chris groaned. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"Yeah, well, I did," said Phil. "Now what do you mean?"

Chris shook his head. "Just…It's nothing really. Nothing that you have to worry about."

"I'm not worrying, I'm just wondering."

"Damn it," mumbled Chris. "Okay, look, no one's supposed to really know about this but…Wait. Before I can tell you anything, you have to promise you won't tell a soul. Especially Kat."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I promise," Phil said. "What is it?"

"Uh-huh. Not good enough. You gotta pinky promise," Chris told him, no trace of joking anywhere on his face.

When Phil realized that, he said, "Oh, my god, you can't be serious right now!"

Chris narrowed his eyes. "I don't joke about pinky promises."

This time, Phil could not control his eye roll as he reached his hand towards Chris's, pinkies extended. "This is so childish," he commented.

"Shut up, it's the only way I know I can trust you." Their pinky fingers connected briefly and Chris stared at Phil. "I'm serious though, you can't tell _anyone._ Not even your dearest grandmother or whatever."

Phil couldn't help but laugh at him. "I told you I promised, didn't I?"

"You better be trustworthy," said Chris, looking away. When he turned his attention back on Phil, he sighed. "Okay, so you know how Adam can be pretty protective of Kat?" Phil nodded so he continued. "Well, there's a reason for that." He fidgeted with his bottle cap. "You see—and he doesn't tell people this—he may or may not have had a thing for Kat at some point."

"What?"

Chris backed away from Phil, stunned by his loudness. "It was a few years ago," Chris said quickly. "Nothing recent. But he's been especially cautious for her since then. I mean, he was always looking out for her. We all were. We promised her dad."

"Adam had a thing for her?" Phil said, not quite believing what he was hearing.

Chris began looking nervous. "Yeah, sort of. It didn't last long but—"

"When was this?" Phil interrupted.

"Back in…I don't know, maybe '06. I haven't exactly been keeping track. I wasn't in the company then, remember?"

"Did Katrina know that?"

Waving his hand, Chris shook his head and said, "Nah, she can be pretty oblivious sometimes. And Adam didn't want to freak her out or anything by telling her." He shrugged. "And this doesn't mean you have to tell her. She has enough things on her mind. Adam having a crush on her for a spell doesn't need to be another burden."

Phil nodded. "I told you I wouldn't tell anyone." Now that he was thinking right, he could definitely imagine Adam having a thing for Kat. Chris and Jay were never _too_ protective of her; they weren't the way Adam was. He took it to another level.

"Not a soul," Chris warned. "Or something bad will happen to you. And me 'cause Adam will know that it was me who said something." His voice lowered, embarrassed, when he spoke next. "It's always me."

"Hey, man, look," Phil said. "It's not your fault. You let something slip on accident and I demanded an answer from you. It's all on me." As annoying as Chris could be, Phil didn't really want him to get an earful or much worse from Adam. "Anyway, thanks…for telling me that and about Kat being sick."

"No problem," replied Chris. "But I better get going or the guys are gonna start wondering what happened to me. Not that they'd really care but they'd wonder." He smiled. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, talk to you later." Once Chris was out of sight, Phil let out a loud sigh. He had gotten a lot of information that night. Though having the knowledge on why Adam was so overly protective was helpful, knowing Kat was not feeling well mattered more to him.

_Tomorrow morning,_ he thought, _I'm gonna go to her hotel room to see if she's any better._

**x-X-x**

Come the next morning, Phil was anxious to see Katrina. He debated over what would be the best time to go to her. He didn't want to be too early, nor too late. He found himself pacing in his own room for a bit before finally deciding on a time. He'd go over at nine-thirty.

When the time came, he nervously walked out his door, making his way down the hall toward Kat's room. Once he got there, he hesitantly knocked on the door. His hands now in his pockets, he waited for Kat to come answer.

It took a couple minutes but she finally did. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and she was still in her nightclothes. "Oh," she said upon seeing Phil. "Hey."

"Hey," he said back with a smile. "Can I come in?"

"Um, sure." She opened the door further, making room for him. "You can just sit…wherever."

"Okay." He looked around the room for a few seconds before taking a seat on the edge of her bed. As she walked closer to him, he asked, "Are you feeling any better since yesterday?"

She smiled slightly at him, sitting next to him. "Yeah, yeah, I do. I guess I just had to sleep it off."

Leaning in closer to her, Phil said, "That's good. I don't want you feeling sick or anything."

As he moved in nearer, he saw Katrina move back further.

"Phil," she said, some sadness in her voice. "We need to talk."

Puzzled, Phil responded, "Okay…About what?"

She looked away from him, then looked down at her hands. When she looked back up at him, there was a fretful look in her eyes. "Phil," she said slowly, then taking a deep breath.

"What is it?" he wondered, getting more antsy by the second.

She whispered her reply. "I can't do this anymore."

**Sorry for leaving it there, I guess…**

**So…what did you guys think? Don't be afraid to let me have it. I love hearing from you guys, good or bad! Well, as long as you're not overly rude about it or anything.**

**Oh, and Happy 4****th**** of July to any American readers! You know how I'm gonna spend Independence Day? Bein' lazy by waiting for my lava lamp to work and listening to Paolo Nutini. xD**


End file.
